The Future or Something Like It (COMPLETED)
by officersun524
Summary: Aeryn returns to Moya and makes a shocking discovery
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own them, wish I did. All credit goes to Sci-Fi, Henson Company, Rockne O'Bannon, et al

Author: Officersun524, email eporter70@cox.net

Rating: PG.

Summary: Spoilers through WWL pt 2 and is my answer to the baby question. This story was begun for Promises aired.

The Future or Something Like It

Chapter 1.

They were flying, the vastness of space stretched out before them, empty and lonely. John was reminded of staring off into the ocean, the overwhelming feeling of something greater than he was, than any dream or theory or philosophy. It had been an overpowering feeling that made him feel small and helpless. It was the way he felt right now. He hated it. 

He kept his distance as much as he could within the tight confines of the Prowler, his hands resting at his side as he tried to balance himself in such a way that he wouldn't touch her. Even so, he could sense Aeryn's tightly coiled body so close to his as she stared straight ahead, purposeful, her hands tight on the prowler's controls. He couldn't see her face, of course, but he knew what he'd find there if he could—that mask that managed so many emotions. Love, sadness…but most of all now, determination. Aeryn had found an objective, a mission and he had no choice but to follow it even if it led to both their deaths. 

"Aeryn," he said softly. "Do you even know where we're going?"

"Are you trying to change my mind?" she said without turning to him.

"No, no." He raised his hand, rested it briefly on her shoulder and then sat back a little as she twisted slightly under his touch. This time, he wouldn't take it personally. It had nothing to do with him. 

*******

__

John had met her in the maintenance bay, much the way he had so many months ago when she had returned from Talyn. The alert had gone through the ship's comms—Aeryn's Prowler had docked in their open landing bay. She had climbed down the Prowler's steps and had turned just in time to see him rounding the corner. Her eyes had sought him out and found him this time. She threw herself into his arms in relief. He felt like he had found her from the dead again and her grip had been enough to almost knock him to the ground.

"Aeryn," he'd whispered, running his hands through her hair. 

"John Crichton." Her lips formed his name even as she'd pressed them against the sensitive skin of his neck. "John." 

"What…how did you—" But she'd pulled away and looked at him. He stared back, his eyes naturally staring at her belly as he looked at nothing. Nothing had changed since he'd last seen her.

"NORANTI!" he roared. Aeryn looked at him, frowning.

"What…" she began. "Noranti?"

"The old woman," he explained. "Wrinkles, Granny… Take your pick." 

Aeryn shook her head—it wasn't important—and reached out her hand, letting her palm rest against his cheek. "I'm fortunate to be here," she said quietly. "John…"

"Fate." He felt himself leaning into her hand. He took it in his own and kissed her palm. "I've looked and looked and…here you are…I don't get it." He just couldn't drop it, just be glad in the knowledge that she was safe.

"He let me go." She dropped her hand and turned away. "I don't know why." 

He…Before John could contemplate it further, his shipmates were bounding in behind him—D'Argo, Chiana skidding in after him. Rygel hovered nearby and looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Aeryn!" D'Argo hugged her much the way he'd bear-hugged John at their reunion on Arnessk. He swung her around and John saw Aeryn's boots lift off the floor as D'Argo almost danced with her in joy.

"D'Argo." A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. "You're still alive. That's good to see."

"Hey," Chiana said from behind D'Argo. "So are you." She looked at John and he shrugged, as unsure of how this all came to be as she was. 

"Chiana," Aeryn said in return. She extended a hand in greeting—the good old earthling way, John thought. Chiana took her hand hesitantly and then Aeryn pulled her in and hugged her. 

"I can see my friends are as resourceful as ever in managing to stay alive," she began. "Dominar."

"Aeryn Sun." Rygel slid towards her in his throne sled. "I didn't think we'd see you again.

"None of us did," D'Argo said. "Where have you been?"

"Yeah, there's the $64,000 question," John said. "And what the hell happened while you were gone?" 

******

It was a crazy mission. No one knew that better than John Crichton. So they'd blown up a Gammak Base, a shadow depository and a Command Carrier. No one took that much bad karma and turned it into something good. Their luck would run out soon and he had a feeling that the time for that had come. 

Yet, there was no way of deterring Aeryn and he couldn't blame her. It was her child out there…and his, whether he had anything to do with its actual making or not. But even more than it being his flesh and blood, it was Aeryn's and she would not be parted from it. Especially not like this.

"Do you really think this is the way to go?" he began again as the Prowler continued forward. 

"I know where the Command Carrier is," she said. 

"That's not what I meant," he began. 

She turned to the control panel. "I know what you meant. Is there any other way? Have you thought of a different plan?"

"You mean one that doesn't involve getting us killed? No," he conceded.

"I'm sure the coordinates were set before I left. Fate." Her voice was impassive. She could have just as easily been discussing the weather or what they were going to eat. 

"You…" He shook his head, unsure.

"No." She turned to him, biting her lip, her eyes hard. "They were set for me, it appears. Someone knew I'd come back."

"Someone," he snorted. "Does that someone wear black leather and have a really nasty set of choppers?"

"Scorpius. Yes, I'm sure." 

He reached out to Aeryn, touching her hair and she didn't pull away this time. They'd been flying for more than a day and she had gradually allowed herself to warm to him, her initial reaction to Noranti's visions finally wearing away. 

He ran his fingers lightly over her hair, letting each strand thread through his fingertips. Her hair was still long but she had given up on the PK braid and it hung past her shoulders, heavy and black and straighter than he remembered. So much time had gone by since he'd last touched her, yet he somehow felt like they'd never separated. The connection was still there; he felt it in the pit of his stomach and he knew she felt it too. 

"It's a trap, you know," John began. He sat back a little, trying to ignore the finality in his tone. 

She nodded and leaned her head back a little. "That's why you shouldn't have come. Your value is much greater than mine."

He laughed shortly. "Yeah, what's five million between friends? I think Rygel's pissed that I'm finally worth more than he is. And alive, no less." 

"It didn't take a bounty to know that, John." She changed the control on the prowler so that they were floating, and turned to face him. "I was right about Fate…bringing us back together…"

"Yeah, right before it kicks us in the teeth." He brushed her hair away from her eyes and ran his thumb over her lips. "You okay…with this…"

"I understand the difference…" She leaned forward, eyes closed and he felt her arms go around his neck awkwardly in the cramped quarters of the prowler. Her lips landed squarely on his as she kissed him hard. Like all those old end of the world movies…It was the kiss of someone who knew she was going to die. 

*******

**__**

"You said 'he', Aeryn." John persisted, following Aeryn to the center chamber while the others lagged behind. "Who is 'he'?"

"S_corpius. I was on his carrier…" She stopped and looked at him. He could see the confusion that clouded her eyes and then she shook it off. _

"What?" Chiana popped up beside John. "Did you say that fekkik let you go? 

What...that's dren. It's a trap, Aeryn. He probably followed you here and you led him right to us!"

They were at the center chamber now. Chiana blocked the entry and pushed Aeryn away, both hands squarely on Aeryn's chest. Aeryn lost her balance and shuffled backwards, regaining her footing before she could fall. Whatever momentary good will had existed between the two had just gotten shot to hell. Aeryn raised her fist in retaliation but John pulled her back as D'Argo reached for Chiana.

"Pip," John said wearily. "Back off."

"No. Frell, this is the best bait of all. Send a Peacekeeper to do a Peacekeeper's job. She frelling left you, Crichton, and now you're thinking with your—"

"Chiana." D'Argo put his hand over her mouth and she promptly bit down on his fingers.

"Frell!" he shouted. "Chiana, wait."

"No, you all wait." She twisted away from D'Argo's grip and turned to face them. "Yeah, this is nice and cozy. Here we are, all together. We left Jool behind on some planet the Peacekeepers already know about. Well, that was easy. We pick up some redheaded tralk we don't even know anything about and now you all welcome Aeryn back with open arms? Are you guys tinked? For all we know, they've swapped that baby with a peacekeeper beacon."

"What?" D'Argo grabbed her shoulders. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, D'Argo. The baby, the baby, the baby. I…I had a vision—" 

"A vision!?!" John said. "You don't have visions, Pip. You said so yourself—"

"Yeah, well it was a frelling leftover, all right? And then Wrinkles here showed me…" 

She looked at Noranti. "Hey, Wrinkles, help me out here."

They all turned on the old woman who stood at the pots and pans, stirring something that, to John, didn't look the least bit appetizing. "Granny, you got some 'splainin' to do," he said. He went to her and grabbed her elbow but she remained unperturbed. 

"Baby," Aeryn repeated heavily. "What the frell are you talking about?" She grabbed Chiana by the arm and pulled her towards her. "Chiana?" She pulled her pulse pistol from the holster and held it to Chiana's temple.

Chiana hissed at her. "Get your frelling Peacekeeper hands off me. You can't hurt me any more than the rest of them could." Chiana cackled and pushed away. The pulse pistol clattered to the floor. Aeryn stared at it dumbly as if she had no idea how to use it. The confusion was back in her eyes and the expression made John shiver like an icy hand had just grabbed him by the neck. 

"Noranti," John said softly. "What the hell did you do, you lying sack of—" 

"Just the right amount, really," Noranti explained. She shook free of him. "Chiana had a gift. You knew that, John Crichton." She turned to D'Argo. "And you?" She turned to Rygel, pointing a gnarled finger at him. "And you, Dominar?"

"Don't point at me, bitch," Rygel said. "I have no idea what this is all about but I'm afraid Chiana has a point. About a trap. I don't know anything about a baby."

"Look, just stop it, all of you," John said. "Aeryn is not leaving here. We are in this thing together and we're sticking it out together."

Chiana turned to him and laughed. "The only thing sticking out here, Crichton, is your—"

"I have it!" Noranti interrupted Chiana and approached Aeryn then stood right up against her chest. Aeryn stared down at her. John could see the anger raging across Aeryn's face but the eyes still looked out of touch, as if Aeryn was only pretending to be Aeryn. 

"Get away from me, old woman," she said.

"What the hezmana's going on here," D'Argo broke in, frustrated. "Will someone please explain this to me."

"It's pretty simple, D'Argo. Aeryn got herself tekked and now we're all going to die," Chiana said. "That clear enough for you?"

"What the frell are you all talking about?" Aeryn said finally. She grabbed Noranti by the edges of the old woman's tattered robe. "You'd better tell me what this is all about." 

"Aeryn," John said softly. "Let her go. Didn't you know? You're pregnant."

Noranti nodded animatedly. "Aeryn Sun, you know what he says is true. And the truth is easily revealed."

She reached into her pocket before John could stop her and blew white powder into Aeryn's face. The change in Aeryn was instantaneous; her body sagged and her face went slack. She stumbled blindly into a chair and crashed down on it, her arms flinging away from her body as though she was trying to push someone away. John looked at the others—they all stared at Aeryn, her eyes rolling back in her head, a dream-like expression over her face and then the expression changed just as suddenly to fear and then pain.

"No!" she shouted. Her eyes were wide open but weren't fixed on anyone in the room. The tenor of her voice was something John had never heard before, higher, frightened, almost pleading. Her fingers clenched into her palm and then she started to wail, a hopeless, high-pitched keening.

"John," D'Argo breathed and nodded his head towards Aeryn's hands. Her palms were bleeding as her nails dug in hard.

"Frell," Chiana began. 

"Just stop," John said. "Noranti, cut the crap. She doesn't need to see this, whatever it is—" He moved towards Aeryn.

"No, John Crichton." Noranti stepped between him and Aeryn. "She must see. She must know." 

__________________________

It had started in the chair, the same chair in which Aeryn had left Crais so that he could see his twisted life unfold before his eyes. And now hers had done the same. Braca had stood just behind Scorpius, appearing to keep watch as Scorpius searched for John in Aeryn's memories. She saw her military existence, saw herself marching in formation as a child, handling rifles and pulse pistols. Xhalax staring down at her—"you were conceived in love"—the most memorable experience of her childhood if for no other reason than it was the only deviation from Peacekeeper life that had ever happened to her. Until John Crichton. 

She'd known nothing of John's whereabouts when she'd been captured but she had still resisted revealing anything about him. She had thrown up a neural block, concentrating on her Peacekeeper training, on the minutiae of flying a Prowler, of cleaning a pulse pistol, anything to distract her from the chair. Explosions zoomed before her eyes, kills in battle, the shadow depository. Making love to John on Talyn. Xhalax falling to her death. John, dying in her arms. Velorek, the absurd calm in his eyes while she had stood there, smothering tears of anguish over her betrayal, juxtaposing with John's shattered look when she had left him on Moya. All of it was out of sequence with what came before. Each vision brought its pain with it and the Aurora Chair had ripped all of it from her memory, overpowering her will, and she had dug her fingernails into her hand to stop herself from screaming. She had passed out just after hearing someone say, "Stop."

When she had awakened, she was in a medical unit, alone. And then Scorpius had come into the room. She had no idea of how much time had passed. 

"Officer Sun, I set you free. There is a Prowler waiting for you. An officer will escort you."

She remembered standing on shaky legs, too weak and strung out to respond to him. He had caught her right as she'd fallen on one knee and then another, faceless Peacekeeper had escorted her through the hidden passageways of the Carrier to the Prowler. From there she'd managed to find Moya. And now, that thing that she had never known had revealed itself.

___________________________

She sat up straight and opened her eyes, looking at each of them. Her nose was bleeding; she wiped the blood across the back of her hand and then looked from it to her shipmates—her friends. D'Argo and Chiana both gaped at her in disbelief. Rygel shook his head in pity. Finally she found John. He reached out his hand but she pushed it away slowly, suddenly not wanting to be touched. Scorpius had taken it from her while she'd slept, too drugged to fight him off. A child that was little more than a mass of cells and tissue and one that she hadn't even realized she was carrying. 

Aeryn forced herself to her feet and grabbed at Noranti. "What the frell did you do to me?" She shook her till the old woman's teeth chattered. 

"Aeryn." John and D'Argo both pulled her away from Noranti.

"No." She pushed them off. The old woman's visions had put her right back in the chair. The metallic taste of blood built up in the back of her throat and she could feel the pounding in her head and weakness in her legs but she wouldn't succumb to it. She turned to John and wiped at her lips with the back of her other hand. "Do you believe this dren?"

"She's nuts but she's been right more than she's been wrong," he said. It wasn't the answer she wanted.

"D'Argo?" she asked. 

D'Argo shrugged helplessly. "She knew about a lot of things on that planet—Arnessk. It's where we left Jool."

"You know it is true, Aeryn," Noranti began. "You remember it all, don't you. Or do you refuse to see?"

Aeryn steadied herself against the table. "Yes," she said finally. "I remember. Now." __

"Aeryn," John began. "Can you tell us…"

She looked at each of them again—even Chiana seemed subdued, hanging back in the corner and waiting, her arms hanging loosely from her body. D'Argo, arms crossed over his chest, his expression soft. And John…when she'd left him, he'd been angry and hurt but now all she saw was…what was his word? Compassion. 

She took a deep breath and pulled herself away from the table, standing straight, chin out, suppressing the feelings of loss, the violation of having something taken from her that she hadn't even known existed. 

"They caught up with me after I left Moya," she began. She heard a catch in her voice and she cleared her throat to hide it. "It was soon, John. I found the squad I thought I was looking for but they quickly turned me over to Scorpius." She stopped abruptly. 

"Do you need assistance, Aeryn?" Noranti offered, stepping forward.

Aeryn held out her hand as a warning and narrowed her eyes at the old witch.

John turned to Noranti. "You. Sit." He pulled her away and pushed her roughly into a chair. "And don't move. Got me? D'Argo?"

D'Argo nodded and stepped behind Noranti, placing both hands on her shoulders and holding her firmly in place.

"Did you tell them about us, Aeryn?" Rygel said.

"Shut up, Rygel," Chiana said. She turned back to Aeryn. "Couldn't you figure it out? I mean, don't Peacekeepers usually do something to avoid that kind of thing?"

"Peacekeepers, yes. I haven't been a Peacekeeper in three cycles, in spite of what you may think." She could hear the bitterness creep into her voice. "I…I didn't think…I mean, I thought I was ill…I…" She rubbed her fingers over her forehead, frustration building inside, realizing how stupid and careless she'd been. Even Chiana knew better. "I was never part of the breeding program so I never thought I could…I just assumed nothing could happen…"

"So you skipped sex-ed," John broke in. "It's okay, Aeryn. I understand." 

She looked at him. He tried to smile at her reassuringly but he only managed to look sad. She had been carrying John Crichton's child and she could feel his loss from where she stood. No amount of strategy or training or weaponry had made a difference. She had failed to protect the one thing that could not protect itself. 

"I'm sorry," she said to him. 

"No, no," he said quietly. "It's not your fault." He reached out his hand to stroke her arm.

"It is." She pulled away from him and began pacing. "I walked right into it, John. The squad was too easy to find and I let them capture me with little more than a fight. I was so frelling anxious to leave Moya I wasn't even thinking or watching—"

She felt her hand fall to her side, her fingers twitching at her pistol and then she pulled it out of the holster, examined it, then re-holstered it. "That frelling Scorpius is going to pay." She turned and walked out, leaving them open-mouthed behind her. 

******

It was like making out in the front seat of a 4x4 only more cramped. Aeryn had turned the seat around to face him, clutching at him in desperation. He could feel her hands sliding under his T-shirt, her fingers tracing over his chest. 

"Aeryn," he whispered. "I—" He couldn't believe he was saying this. "Damn, Aeryn, this really isn't a good time…"

"I shouldn't have left you," she said into his ear, her lips pressed against it. He was getting damned uncomfortable and he shifted slightly. It wasn't that he didn't want to but…

"Is this like a good-bye frell or something?" He pulled away a little bit and looked into her eyes, then smoothed her hair back. "Aeryn, I just don't…" He laughed a little. "How stupid am I?"

"I can move over there," she offered, not really listening to what he was trying to say.

"No," he said finally. He cupped her face in his hands, both thumbs tracing the outline of her eyes, her cheeks and finally her lips. She pulled her hands away and sat back. "Not like this," he said. "We're going to be together but not now, and not like this. When we get the kid back. When we find a place to live where we won't be hunted anymore. When we can finally be left alone." He heard conviction in his voice but he didn't feel it. Not at all. And suddenly Aeryn's end of the world frell didn't look like such a bad idea.

"Ever the optimist," she said, smiling slightly. "I understand, John."

"Well, that makes one of us." He sat back, feeling like a jerk. "We're coming back, Aeryn. I promise."

"Remember all those things I told you, about soldiers in battle, about emotions getting in the way of clear thinking? I was right. And I have allowed another person to sacrifice his life for mine." She reached out and touched his face. "You shouldn't have come. No matter what happens to me or to the child, they will not let you go. Not this time."

"Did you really think you were going to stop me? Short of killing me, that is?" But there was fear brewing deep inside him and he was doing all he could to ward it off. Only an idiot could believe what he'd said about coming back but it was a dream he'd have to hold on to, for both of them, if they were going to get out of this. 

"I won't leave you," she said. "Even if it means we all die together." She turned back to the controls and they were moving forward again, the soft hum of the engine core the only sound he could hear.

******

__

"Aeryn!" John shouted after her, following her to her quarters as she gathered up a few belongings. Another pulse pistol strapped to another leg holster. Two pulse rifles, one slung over each shoulder. A bag of grenades. She looked like something out of a Clint Eastwood movie. 

"Aeryn." D'Argo was behind him, backing him up. "This is suicide. I will not permit it." He stood at her doorway, blocking the entrance, arms folded formidably across his chest.

"You cannot stop it," she said, forcing her way around him. He exchanged a worried glance with John and then they both followed her to the docking bay.

"Pilot, is the Prowler ready?" she asked, looking into the clamshell.

"Yes, but, Officer Sun, Moya and I feel strongly that this is not a favorable turn of events. I am sure there are other methods…"

"That's what we keep trying to tell her," Chiana broke in. "You're going to get yourself killed, Aeryn." Sikozu stood off in the corner, watching the drama unfold but had no connection to it at all. She had jumped right from the frying pan into the fire. Bad timing. Seemed like nowadays there was nothing but bad timing. 

"Tell Moya I appreciate her concern, Pilot. And yours. You have been a faithful friend."

"Thank you." His face faded from the clamshell, his eyes sad. 

"Scorpius is dead," Sikozu interjected finally. "This is ridiculous, Crichton. You saw him buried."

Aeryn stopped and turned to her. "Who the frell are you?"

"New girl, Sikozu, some other names I don't remember." John broke in and caught a withering glare from Sikozu. "Long story short, she's stuck here with us." He felt some measure of relief at Sikozu's reminder. "And she's right. He's dead." 

Aeryn hooked her thumbs into her gun belt, waiting for more of an explanation but he could see from the look in her eyes that he could talk himself blue in the face and it wouldn't make a difference. 

"Braca shot him and Crichton helped bury him," Sikozu offered. "I take it you are Aeryn Sun?"

Aeryn nodded. "How can you be sure he's dead? He's survived everything else."

"Okay, so the cat's Wile E Coyote," John said. "But this time he's six feet under, more or less. You're not going to get your revenge on him."

Aeryn put her hand on the Prowler's control, opening the hatch. "This isn't about revenge, John. The child is still in the Peacekeepers' custody. It doesn't matter that Scorpius is dead. I only hope he died slowly and painfully."

She started up the steps but John caught her arm. "Wait. Aeryn, D'Argo's right. This is suicide."

"Do you have a better plan? Any one of you?" She waited quietly. "D'Argo? Chiana? Rygel?" They didn't respond. "I thought not. You know what Peacekeepers do to half-breeds. Would any of you leave your offspring at their mercy?"

"Aeryn," Chiana began. "There's a price on our heads. All of us. That includes you. I think they wanted you almost as much as they wanted Crichton. Right, Ryg?"

"Twenty million in currency for Crichton and amnesty for any crimes committed," Rygel said. "You were fifteen million, Aeryn. Peacekeeper traitors and collaborators with unclassified life forms fetch quite a price. And of course, Sebaceans would rate higher than other life forms. Even Dominars. Crichton aside, naturally."

"You sound disappointed. I'm surprised you didn't turn us in yourself, Rygel," Aeryn said disgustedly. She turned to Sikozu. "Or you."

Sikozu shrugged. "Currency doesn't concern me at the moment."

"Hmm," Aeryn mused. "Perhaps Chiana had a point about bringing this redheaded tralk along." She turned back towards the steps.

"How much do you think you can get away with?" Sikozu said. "From what I've heard, you have destroyed a Gammak Base, a shadow depository and a command carrier. Do you honestly think you're going to destroy Grayza and the Peacekeepers, fetch your offspring and run back here?" 

Aeryn took her foot off the step and turned towards Sikozu. "I don't need a lecture from you." 

"Listen, Sputnik," John said, putting an arm around Sikozu. "You just can't believe everything you hear. Okay?" 

"Hey, Red, the Peacekeepers aren't tracking you so why don't you just jump off this crazy place any time," Chiana said. She turned back to Aeryn. "Do whatever the frell you want to, Aeryn. We're not going to stop you." 

Aeryn sighed. "Moya should starburst from here immediately after I'm gone. You're right—I don't know if they've left some sort of tracking device." 

She turned to the steps again and this time John caught her hand. "I'm going with you."

"No. You're not. D'Argo?" She turned to the Luxan, raising her eyebrows in a question. 

D'Argo shrugged. "Aeryn, I will not stop anyone from leaving this ship. I will, however, ask them to leave the two of you here to work this out." He stepped forward and patted her heavily on the shoulder, letting his hand rest there. "Good luck, my friend."

She nodded; John could see the faintest trace of a tear in her eye and saw her swallow hard. 

"Thanks, big guy," John said. "Chi, take care of this guy. Sputnik—it's been real. Rygel, try not to screw anyone over, okay?"

They nodded and said their good-byes to him, with the exception of Sikozu who had merely turned and walked off in a huff. She was supposed to be intelligent—it hadn't taken her long to realize that this wasn't the best of all possible worlds. It wasn't his problem anymore. In a way, it made him feel a little lighter. His only purpose now was to find the kid and get it—them—somewhere safe. All he had to do was work out the details. Yeah, it would be easy.

"Got enough firepower there for the both of us or do you want me to grab a couple more of those things?" he said, pointing at the rifles.

"You're not going with me." She turned back towards the steps. 

He caught her hand again and turned her towards him, both his hands on her shoulders. She flinched slightly and he released his hold on her. 

"No, no, no. That's not going to work again," he said. "You've done that to me too many times."

"We…we should cut our losses, John," she said, not looking at him. "There's no sense in both of us dying."

"Uh-uh. I've heard that one before too and I didn't fall for it then. I sure as hell won't now. Anyway, who's going to get you out of there?" He put his hands on his hips, waiting.

She checked her weapons for the umpteenth time, it seemed to him, but he could tell that she hadn't even begun to think this thing through. She was operating purely on emotion and for once, he thought emotion was a bad thing in her. So much for being a strategist; she was going to get herself killed before she got anywhere near the Command Carrier. 

"I'll get out," she said firmly.

"You and a fetus or whatever it is now? And your pulse pistols, and those rifles in a Prowler by yourselves…" He turned and paced then looked at her again. "Dammit, Aeryn, for a soldier, you're really not using your head. You know?"

She threw her hands up in frustration. "John, I will find a way. And it's a child. It would have come to term by now." 

"Oh," he said. That was an answer he hadn't really expected and the suddenness of it all took the wind out of him. He leaned his hand against the Prowler for support. "So it's born, huh?"

"I…" She hesitated then looked at him and away again, smoothing her hands over her hair. "I don't understand…It… it's not your child…" She faced him again, waiting. There was no malice in her expression—she looked almost hopeful. 

"No, that's where you're wrong, Aeryn." He found himself standing in front of her, pointing a finger in her face, emphatic. "It is my kid. It's Crichton's kid. Damn, I didn't get to help make it but I'm not leaving it behind, not under these conditions. My dad wouldn't have done that to me. You should know by now, I'm not that kind of man."

Aeryn nodded slowly and he let his hand drop to his side. 

"I know," she said. "I was hoping to give you an out." She slid out of one of the rifles and handed it to him then pointed to a storage crate in the corner of the docking bay. "There may be one more bag of grenades over there. You may need them."

"Yeah, nothing like over-packing." He hefted the rifle in his hand, grabbed the bag of grenades, probably some little secret stash she'd kept handy for emergencies, and then followed her up the Prowler's steps as the hatch closed behind them.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Braca stared down at the infant in its tiny bed among the other Peacekeeper infants, one hundred in all for this regiment, all but one the results of the Peacekeeper breeding program like Braca himself had been. He was born on the Command Carrier that Crichton had destroyed, marked for the elite from the outset, the product of a genetic match between two high ranking officers who'd never met. It had taken him this long to achieve that destiny and he had John Crichton to thank for it. He was now Captain Braca but the title had been hard earned, the degradation at Commandant Grayza's hands nearing insufferable. To be serving another mutant of questionable origins had spurred him into action. He was a pureblooded Peacekeeper; he would see to it that Scorpius' prize got him the command he deserved. 

That prize was a female infant, as yet unnamed. Grayza took no notice of how many children were born in these mass breedings. That was a tech's job but none would dare to question Captain Braca if the question of one additional child arose. He'd admired Scorpius' ability to keep Aeryn Sun's capture and the child hidden from Grayza. At least Scorpius had come to the Peacekeepers through sacrifice and hatred of the Scarrans. Grayza…Braca shuddered. He had no factual knowledge of how Grayza had attained her rank, although he certainly had his own ideas about it. 

He hadn't regretted killing Scorpius and had relished humiliating the half-breed. But Scorpius had been a brilliant scientist and had taken great pride in keeping this little girl from Grayza's reach, a bargaining chip. Perhaps he had sensed the tide turning against him, although one didn't have to be a genius to have seen that approaching. Braca, no genius himself, had known it would happen as soon as they'd fled the debris of the carrier, the last known survivors to leave the ship. 

The infant stirred, opening its eyes slightly and Braca studied it, looking for any telltale sign of its parentage, anything in its outward appearance that would mark it as different. The eyes, perhaps, bright blue, a color not often seen in Sebacean children. Still, it wasn't enough to arouse suspicions. A shock of thick black hair covered her head. She was a little smaller than the other children were, seemingly premature but her tech had kept close watch on her growth and had regulated it during her gestation so that there'd been no outward defect in this half-breed. At first glance, it was nothing but a Sebacean. The only giveaway would be its genetic make-up. 

Even before the DNA testing had confirmed it, neither he nor Scorpius had questioned whether the child was Crichton's. Aeryn Sun's contamination and fate had been sealed long before this child was conceived. From the moment she'd taken up for Crichton against Crais, every action had been treasonous. Braca knew, as severe as the sentences her fellow criminals would suffer, hers would be worse; she had forsaken and betrayed all that she had sworn a loyalty to. Peacekeeper High Command would put her up as an example. The child, though…He gazed at it thoughtfully, a thin smile forming along his lips. He intended to use the child to its full advantage.

The infant started to cry, a screech that grabbed at Braca's senses. He hit his comm and stepped back a bit.

"Co-kurra! This is Captain Braca." 

"Yes, Captain?" The voice came over his comm, hesitant. Co-kurra Strapa, completely devoid of any useful knowledge about wormholes or much of anything else, had become a breeding tech. He was the only one whom Scorpius had trusted and he had harvested the child from its mother. Braca had followed Scorpius' instinct in regards to Co-kurra; the creature was harmless. 

"I need your assistance. Now." The child wailed incessantly, her little face turning red. Braca sucked in his breath. Humans! The noise alone was enough to confirm it was Crichton's child. 

Co-kurra rushed in and picked up the squalling child, quieted it, then handed it to a nurse to feed. Fortunately, humans and Sebaceans took food in a similar way, through a nursing machine. The child stopped crying once it was fed.

"Was that all, Captain?" Co-kurra said.

"Yes, yes." Braca waved at him dismissively and Co-kurra nodded. He turned but Braca caught him by the arm. Co-kurra's reactions were slower than they used to be, as though only half his body worked. His eyes gazed at Braca somewhat blankly, always looking like he was about to ask a question but would never remember the answer.

"Yes, Captain?" 

"The child. How…" He leaned forward a little and lowered his voice. "How is its health?"

Co-kurra clapped his hands together. "Very healthy, Sir, very healthy. But she does seem to cry more than the others."

"Yes." Braca tugged at his ear. "I've noticed that." He put an arm around the tech and walked him towards the corner where the child was still "You are the only tech working with her, correct?"

"Yes, sir, as you've instructed, but she seems to need an inordinate amount of nourishment—" 

"I don't care. No one is to interfere with her but you. You understand that she has to remain in good health if she is to be of any use to me."

Co-kurra looked at him in surprise. "For what purpose, Sir?"

Braca laughed shortly, proud of himself and eager to share his insight. "Co-kurra, but of course. You must know that Crichton will come looking for her."

Co-kurra looked confused. "Sir, Scorpius released Aeryn Sun. I do not believe she had knowledge of…" He paused and sighed, sounding almost remorseful. "Of what I did, Sir."

"You did as you were ordered." Braca clapped him on the back reassuringly, letting his hand rest on Co-kurra's shoulder. "It was your duty and you committed it faithfully. You will be rewarded, Co-kurra."

"Sir," he said as though in agreement but he looked away towards the child. "She is quite beautiful, Captain Braca."

"Beautiful!" Braca snorted. "She's the offspring of a traitor and a human. She's a half-breed. She has only one purpose for me and you are to see to it that I achieve that purpose. You do understand that no one—no one—is to know of her existence until I am ready." Braca tightened his grip on Co-kurra's shoulder but the creature hardly seemed to notice. "You know who I'm talking about, correct?"

Co-kurra nodded furiously. "As Scorpius requested. Yes, Captain, I remember." He cocked his head, troubled. "But I do need to enter her name in our databanks or I will arouse suspicion. Each child must be logged and registered."

"Well, do you have any suggestions?" A name? It hadn't even occurred to him. He supposed he could use his own. It wouldn't have been the first time a high-ranking officer had forgone the standard breeding policies. But he didn't want his name associated with this child. 

"Well." Co-kurra put a finger to his lips. "A'lya is a common Peacekeeper name. But certainly, Sir." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "You cannot use the mother's name."

"No, of course not." Braca thought a moment. He'd seen Aeryn Sun's file and a name had caught his eye for no particular reason. "Lyczac. Name her that then. A'lya Lyczac. That's sufficient."

"Yes, Captain. I will do it at once."

Braca clapped him on the shoulder. "You're doing a fine job, Co-kurra. Go about your business."

The little creature nodded at him and scurried away. Ordinarily, this one would have been out an airlock with Scorpius's demise but his presence had served a purpose. He was too addle-headed to give Braca any trouble or ask too many questions and, for some reason, he had seemed unusually loyal to Scorpius. More so than Braca himself had been.

He turned away from the nursery and took one last look at the child who'd been moved back to her crib, a small, satisfied smile on his face. 

*******

Aeryn was lost. She hadn't wanted to admit it to John yet but the fact of it shouted out to her from the instrument readings. She had been so sure that Scorpius had wanted her to return to the Carrier that she had misread one of the coordinates. She couldn't remember where it had happened or why, just that there'd been times while they'd been flying that she'd felt disconnected from herself, her body moving one way without her mind registering the movement. 

She had done what she could to avoid the feelings that were eating away at her center. It was not the same sharp pain she'd had when John had died, but only because this time she'd clung to the small hope that this John's words promised, that they'd find the child and evade the Peacekeepers and go to a place where they could be left alone. She held fast to that hope without cynicism only because she knew if she didn't, she'd take the Prowler straight to the Command Carrier, disembark and kill every person she encountered until they killed her. She wouldn't make it past the refueling bay. 

"Hey." She heard his voice in her ear, soft. More than once, she had wished that she'd just given in to him on Moya, had forgone his coin-toss or that it had gone in his favor. It had been too late for her, she'd told him; she still closed her eyes against the memory. If she'd realized then that there was another life at stake… Fate. The word reared its head again, and this time not for the better. At that moment in her life, would she have made any other choice than to leave? 

"Hey," she said in return. The earth greeting she'd heard from him so many times, offering the opportunity to talk if she needed to. She didn't need to. 

"You okay?" he asked. His hand settled on her shoulder and she could feel herself molding into his fingertips. Seven days ago, she had flinched under his touch, the Aurora Chair fresh on her skin as though it had been yesterday. Now, he was the only thing that kept her from going insane. Her piloting days were long over. The Peacekeepers were another lifetime. This life lacked rules and order and she had suffered pain that she hadn't even imagined existed. She had finally realized that it was all worth it for that hand on her shoulder.

"Yes," she sighed. She leaned back a little and closed her eyes. Her head hurt and for once, she could honestly say she had no idea what she was doing. She had allowed him to go with her, away from the relative safety of Moya, to find the Command Carrier. Would she even know where to begin when she got there?

"Maybe we should make another stop," he suggested. "Or I can do the driving."

She shook her head and suppressed a small smile…if she thought they were lost now_…_She reached over and squeezed his hand. "I'm fine."

"No," he mused. "I don't think so. I don't think you know where you're going or what you're going to do if you get there. And that's cool, except if we're going to do this thing, we're going to do it right." 

"John—" she began but he cut her off. 

"Hey, look, Aeryn, we're crammed together in this tin can of a ship. I may not be able to see your face but I can see your hands. You've been fiddling with those controls for the last half arn or so. And I think we're lost."

"You're right," she said. "You're right. You're right. That is what you wanted to hear, isn't it?" She slammed her palms flat on the console. Whether it was what he wanted to hear or not, it was the truth. She felt suddenly claustrophobic, frustrated, kicking herself for the mistakes that kept piling up on her. 

"Whoa, hey." He stroked her hair. "Aeryn. We're on the same side, baby. What happened to the coordinates? I thought they were set."

"I thought so too." She turned to him. "I was wrong." Now would have been a good time to say she'd been wrong about everything but there were more important things at stake. 

"I'm not blaming you." His gaze met hers. "For anything."

She breathed out, not realizing that, until she heard those words, she'd been holding her breath. "You haven't asked," she began.

"You haven't said," he answered. "I'm not a glutton for punishment, Aeryn. You don't want to talk? Okay. And maybe there are just some things a guy doesn't want to know." He leaned back and scrubbed his hands over his face. "And we could talk ourselves crazy and it wouldn't change a damn thing. Maybe that's something you were right about. Why bother?"

She turned back to her controls. "It's not too late to turn back, John," she said tightly. 

"Yeah, Aeryn, it is too late." She felt him sigh against her. Both of them were vulnerable out here, helpless and now irrevocably tied together. If she led him to his death...she would never forgive herself. It would be that simple. She should have knocked him unconscious and left him on Moya instead of allowing him aboard the Prowler with her. 

"Well, do you have any suggestions?" she said finally. 

He leaned back a little and sighed. "Yeah. But you're not gonna like it." 

*****

"This is a very bad idea." Chiana cocked her head at D'Argo and punched him in the arm. "Very bad."

"Chiana, we are not arguing about this" He glided Lo'La gently into Arnessk's atmosphere, weapons at the ready. So far, the sensors hadn't picked up any Peacekeeper transmissions but that didn't necessarily mean they were in the clear. Although the planet's magnetics had been returned to normal, he knew it would be easy for the Peacekeepers to disguise themselves. For once, he wished that Chiana could still see the future or something like it. 

"You could have all just stayed behind," he said. He looked over his shoulder at Chiana, Sikozu and the old woman, Noranti. Rygel had decided to stay aboard Moya, calling them all "farboht" and stuffing his face while he'd grumbled at them. D'Argo was grateful for the Hynerian's absence. It was bad enough that Noranti had pushed her way onto Lo'La, under the guise of being useful in the event negotiations were needed. If nothing else, maybe he'd have something to throw at the Peacekeepers if the situation got out of control. 

"So Jool sends out a call and we all coming running? That's how it works, D'Argo?" Chiana pushed him again. "Didn't know you too were so…close."

"As I said, 'we' didn't have to come at all. I didn't ask any of you." He looked at the three females, all viewing him with varying parts of disgust, pity or curiosity, depending on how well each of them knew him. The redhead would be of some value, he supposed, given that she seemed able to follow his plans, such as they were. Chiana was always good in a fight. The old woman was crazy. Even Crichton was better in a fight, though, and Aeryn…he shook his head a bit. He and Aeryn alone could have taken out an entire platoon. 

"You know that I would not leave Jool defenseless," D'Argo began. "No more than I would have left you or Crichton or—"

"Yeah, yeah, save it," Chiana muttered, looking past him to the planet's surface. "That it down there? I see some kind of reflection."

"The Temple," Noranti said rapturously. She clasped she hands together and sighed.

"Oh, brother," D'Argo muttered at Chiana who just shrugged, still annoyed that he had gone out of his way for Jool. Well, that was just her misfortune. Whether he liked it or not, he felt responsible for what was left of the crew. And he would not abandon any of them.

"Why would the Peacekeepers come back here if they have no quarrel with Jool?" Sikozu asked. "This looks like a trap." 

"Well, what do you know?" Chiana slapped one hand on her thigh, impatient. "A trap. I hadn't thought of that one, genius." She shuddered a little. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Well, that's convenient," Sikozu said. "I thought you said that your 'feeling' had changed to something else." 

"It's not that kind of feeling," she said. "Anyway, who asked you? I'm not even sure why you're still here. Or—" She moved in towards Sikozu, "If I should just toss you out like yesterday's grolak."

"You're insane," Sikozu said. "You know that, don't you?"

"Just crazy enough to toss you out—" Chiana glared at the redhead. 

"Enough!" D'Argo said, turning to them. "I cannot think with all this arguing. You." He pointed a finger at Sikozu. "Sit there and be quiet. And you." He turned to Chiana who stared back, daring him. "Just let me do what we came to do."

"Oh, very good, D'Argo," Noranti said but her praise meant little to him. It had been this way since John and Aeryn had left Moya, the two females arguing with each other, doing all they could to get on each other's nerves. D'Argo had feared—no, feared was too strong a word. He had _hesitated _to break away from Moya's coordinates, concerned that Aeryn and John might realize that their mission was hopeless, at best, and would return to Moya. But there'd been no word from them and he'd had no way of knowing whether or not they'd achieved their goal. Nine solar days of uncertainty and the bickering had begun to drive him insane. The distress call from Jool had at least been a call to action. 

He checked his control panel and zeroed in on the signal Jool had sent out then landed the ship and cloaked it after they disembarked. "Let's go," he said. He took the lead, Qualta blade at the ready until he saw Jool standing behind a tree and waving at him frantically. He motioned to her and she ran out to them, hugging him and each of the others in turn.

"Thank you," she said. "I knew you wouldn't fail me."

"Hey, Princess." Chiana looked around. "What the hezmana is this all about? You know, we were kinda busy up there. And why the frell are we standing here waiting to get killed?"

"They're gone." Jool linked her arm through D'Argo's and pulled him towards the dig site. "We saw them, the priests and I, a squadron." She pulled D'Argo into the site and the others followed behind. "And…" She stopped and turned to all of them. "He's gone."

"What?" D'Argo said. "'He'? He who?"

"Fek-face!" Chiana said. "Scorpius, right? The frellnick dug himself out?" She started walking in a circle, laughing. "Oh, great. I don't frelling believe this. Doesn't he ever die? Just lead us right back to where they're at so we can just get this over with, why don't you?" 

"No," Sikozu interjected. "How do you know he's gone? You didn't actually go to the…grave, did you?"

"Well, now that would be stupid, wouldn't it?" Chiana said. "Frell! D'Argo, you see what this little pity trip has brought us? Who would have guessed Rygel would have been smart enough to miss this one?"

"No, Chi, he's gone." Jool touched her arm to calm her. "The priests saw him and described him to me. Right after you left…I don't know how he managed to survive. There was a squad of Peacekeepers—Sebaceans. They weren't dressed like Peacekeepers. They must have dug him out. The priests saw them leave." She looked around. "Where's John?"

D'Argo shook his head and paced. "He and Aeryn are on some crazy mission to the carrier."

"Aeryn? But—"

"Oh, skip the back story, Princess," Chiana said. "We don't have time for this dren. Did Scorpius see you? Can your priests be trusted?"

"Well, of course they can. They didn't have any contact with him. They saw him, they reported to me what they'd seen, which has been what they've done with every experience." She clasped her hands together. "You wouldn't believe what I've learned."

"Jool." D'Argo placed his hands on her shoulders. "That is all very nice and informative, I'm sure, but there are Peacekeepers looking for us and I don't think it's a good idea for any of us to stay here. Do you have a place to hide if they come back?"

"D'Argo, I'm telling you, they're not coming back." Jool put her hands on her hips. "These weren't Peacekeepers."

"But Scorpius is a Peacekeeper," D'Argo said. "And he'll come back. For you if nothing else."

"He doesn't even know I'm here." She turned to Chiana. "What about Aeryn? She returned to Moya? And she's with John?"

Chiana shrugged. "Long story, Jool. Maybe some time when our lives aren't in danger…" She turned to D'Argo. "Let's get out of here before Scorpius changes his mind. Unless you want to stay, of course."

D'Argo rolled his eyes and was about to say something more when one of the priests came hurrying in. D'Argo aimed his Qualta at the creature but he didn't even seem to notice D'Argo as he whispered something to Jool. Jool gasped and then turned to them.

"What?" Chiana said. "Don't even frellin' tell me…"

Jool nodded. "They've seen him. It's Scorpius."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aeryn landed the Prowler like the expert she was, so softly that John scarcely noticed that they weren't flying anymore. It had taken them two additional days to reach Arnessk, with one small stop in between, just long enough to eat, stretch and catch a few hours of sleep. He hadn't actually seen her sleep yet, but he knew she must have at some point. The stress of flying was starting to wear on her; he could see it in the dark circles under her eyes and the way her breath came in and out in long stretches, as if she was trying to conserve her energy. 

They hadn't spoken much after he'd directed her to Arnessk and the closeness that had been growing between them seemed to have ground to a halt as she had shifted her focus to the mission ahead of them. He'd noticed that her hands had moved with certainty after he'd found the coordinates to Arnessk. She sat with her back straight and he had discreetly kept his hands to himself. Maybe she'd been right about emotions. This was too big a deal for them to screw it up wondering and trying to work out their relationship, whatever it was now. 

He sat back as she went through her final landing procedures, and allowed his mind to wander where it had refused to go before, to how that baby had come to be. _Sex ed?_ Well, it was obvious, John-boy, he thought. The other you and Aeryn were frelling like rabbits and she either didn't know or didn't care whether or not birth control was involved. Sure, he supposed it made sense in the Peacekeeper world. They'd told her where to fight and where to die, right? Yeah, it was reasonable to assume that they would have taken care of that little matter of birth control along with any other inoculations against disease, no decisions or knowledge on her part. Sure. Made perfect sense.

The hatch popped open and he looked up as Aeryn stood. "We're here," she announced. She offered him her hand and waited as he unbuckled himself from the harness. He took it and she helped pull him to his feet. He heard both his knees pop as he stood. 

"Damn legs feel like wet spaghetti," he said, stretching, then moved his head from side to side until his neck cracked.

"All that noise would be enough to wake the dead," she said. She let go of his hand and reached down for her weapons, some canisters of water and a length of rope before handing him one of the pulse rifles. He hadn't even wanted to know about the rope. He put the strap over his shoulder then followed Aeryn out as the hatch closed neatly behind him. "Just what is this trip supposed to accomplish?" she asked, still not sure that he was making the right call.

"Like I said, Jool's still here. We figured it was Peacekeeper free." He looked at her and realized he'd have to come clean now. "Aeryn, you can't keep pushing yourself. This is a good place to hang and regroup. We're not leaving until you've gotten some sleep and we've come up with a better plan."

"So." She narrowed her eyes at him. "This is the plan to come up with the plan. I see, John." She smiled unpleasantly. "You propose 'parking' me here until you can convince me to turn back. Is that the plan?"

"Nope." He shook his head and started off in the direction of Jool's dig site. "I wish there was some place we could stash this thing," he said, eyeing the Prowler. She had managed to land between some trees but the Prowler was still too visible for his taste. "That ship of D'Argo's can hide itself. It just disappears." 

"Hmm," she said. "Unfortunate we don't have it. It might have figured in your 'plan'." She looked around, her eyes narrowing as she stared into the horizon and then she turned to him. "Or are you here to make sure Scorpius is really dead?"

He bit his lip to keep from smiling. "Baby, I didn't know I was so easy to read." He took her by the arm and pulled her forward. "It's a kill two birds with one stone thing." She looked at him blankly. "You know, we're here. You rest, I check out to make sure he's really most sincerely dead and then we get the hell off." It had been fluttering in the back of his mind—_he's not dead, he's not dead, he's not dead. _Or maybe that was just Harvey trying to get out. But he knew he would have to clear his own head if they had any chance of getting onto the carrier. 

"Are you all right?" She stopped and looked at his grip on her arm. "I'm not going anywhere, John. You don't have to hold on so tight." 

"Ah, yeah. Sorry." He released her arm and pulled Winona from his holster, just in case the boogieman decided to jump out from behind any trees. Fortunately, there'd been few structures left on the planet. Between those landmarks and the water, she'd set them down pretty close to the dig site. 

"I think we're close," he said. The air was heavy after the controlled atmosphere of the Prowler and his chest felt tight, like he'd been climbing a mountain. The futility of this mission was crushing down on him, mingling with memories of his last time on the planet and what might lie ahead of them—a baby that he only knew of through hearsay. What if the old woman had been wrong and they were risking their lives for something that didn't even exist? God knew she was crazy as a bat. She could have easily screwed with Aeryn's memories as easily as she had toyed with him. It could all be a lie.

__

"John, you're thinking again. Good. Aeryn Sun has a valid point about all that sentimentality. It's for sissies, John. Sissies and dead men." There was a John Wayne twist to the words. The voice was in his ear—inside his head, buzzing like an annoying little mosquito that wouldn't land long enough to squash. 

"Harvey. Where the hell have you been, son? Been missing you." Like a toothache. "So I need to know. Scorpius is dead, right? I saw him killed and buried. Right?" 

Harvey had taken position under a tree in John's mind, sitting carefully on a rock as he flicked falling leaves off his arm. Nothing like a summer picnic, John supposed, and good old Harvey was the ant. 

"John, your agony interests me deeply. I'm glad you've fixed your sights on rescuing Aeryn's child. It gives you a reason to go on, don't you think? And just imagine how grateful she'll be when you've found the little one. You'll be her hero. No more Mr. black shirt to compete with." 

"I am Mr. black shirt now so cut the crap," he muttered.

"Let's not get too cocky. Women are a fickle lot." Harvey stood up and elbowed him then whispered. "She's not looking well, John. You may want to consider one of the other females when you return to Moya with the child. A little quid pro quo for Aeryn?"

"I don't play that way." He walked on, hearing Aeryn's footsteps behind him as she swatted through brush and tree limbs. "You haven't answered my question."

"How would you expect me to know? You saw him. Why not believe what you see?"

"Because I don't trust everything I see. Like you, for example. I'm not sure I believe everything I hear either."

"Oh, John. Once a trusting soul and now…" He shook his head. "You realize Aeryn Sun has lost her edge. Have you noticed that, John? She'll lead you straight to your death." He gulped. "And mine."

"Now, that would be the good part. I trust her a helluva lot more than I trust you, Harv. So shut the hell up already."

"'It's too late, she's gone too far, she's lost the sun…she's come undone,'" Harvey sang, off-key no less, and then started dot-dahing his way through the refrain. 

"Yeah, yeah. You have a real career in lounge singing. Are you here to help me out or annoy the crap out of me?" 

"Consider. I allowed you to hear what the old woman had to say. Do you really believe I would have misled you? Do you really believe that Aeryn just imagined what she told you on Moya? Or are you just choosing to believe that because you truly don't want to see the incarnation of Aeryn's love for…" he paused. "Well, for the other you. It's a difficult situation, I imagine. I suspect the green eyed monster is rearing its ugly head as we speak."

"Thank again, Harvey. You're a freaking genius."

Harvey took a bow. "And I have a song for you too—'don't you remember you told me you loved me, baby. Said you'd be coming back this way again, baby. Baby, baby, baby—" He held out the word "baby" and then finally, he was quiet.

"Crap. The Carpenters," John said. He stepped forward onto air then felt Aeryn's hand on the waistband of his pants. She pulled him backwards and he lost his balance and fell, both of them landing in a heap on the ground near Scorpius' freshly dug up grave. His pistol clattered away from him and he grabbed for it and stuck it back in his holster.

"What the frell is the matter with you?" Aeryn said. Her elbows were scraped and bloodied from the fall. She looked at him as she sat, her eyes flashing angrily. 

"God. I'm sorry, Aeryn." He scrambled to his feet and then offered his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up then dusted her off. "I…I wasn't looking where I was going…"

"That much is obvious." She put a finger to his forehead. "Ignore him, John. For your sake if nothing else."

He nodded and turned towards the grave. She stood beside him, holding his arm and they both looked down. The ground was still damp and he could see clumps of dirt clinging to the edge of the gravesite.

Aeryn sucked in her breath. "Frell me dead," she said. She released his arm and dropped to her knees, sticking her fingers in a clump of dirt and rubbing it between her fingertips. He stood next to her, looking down. _He's not dead, he's not dead, he's not dead…_Just like it had been nagging him all along. And he'd walked them right into it. 

"I don't believe it," John said. He stared into the depths of the six-foot hole and then backed way, taking Winona from her holster and glancing around. "It's possible someone just dug up the body," he offered. 

"John." The voice came from behind him. He whirled around, Winona held out in front of him, ready to shoot. Aeryn scrambled to her feet and grabbed her rifle. "You are indeed predictable," Scorpius continued. "And I didn't have to utilize a neural clone to get you here. I had no idea our thoughts were so synchronized." He spread his arms wide like a host graciously welcoming his guests. He stepped towards them and Aeryn leveled her rifle at his mid-section. 

"Stand fast, Scorpius," she said. John saw her finger play on the trigger. 

"Officer Sun. So good to see you again. I see I gave you the proper coordinates and you were eventually able to locate Moya—and Crichton." 

"Let's skip the chit-chat." John kept Winona leveled at Scorpius and stood next to Aeryn. "Tell me you have a secret twin. A clone maybe? Tell me you're a ghost. Tell me I'm crazy. Tell me that the son of a bitch I saw shot and buried is still dead." 

Scorpius laughed and shook his head. "So sorry, John. As much as I would love to accommodate you, I cannot. As you can see—both of you—I am very much alive." 

"Dracula," John said. "Freakin' Dracula. That it? Would a stake through the heart get rid of you? Garlic? Holy water?" He walked calmly to Scorpius and put Winona to Scorpius' temple. "Or how about I just blow your stinking head off. Would that do it?" 

"John." Aeryn's voice was soft. John turned to her as she lowered the rifle slightly. 

"Let's just shoot the bastard and move on," John began. He grabbed Scorpius by the neck. 

"He…" She faltered. "He has information. About the child." 

John looked at her. Uncertainty furrowed her brow. He could see her finger still twitching on the trigger but the rifle now pointed at the ground. Instinct told her to shoot but intellect told her that there might be some value in letting Scorpius live. He understood her conundrum completely. 

"Officer Sun. You recognize that knowledge equals power," Scorpius said. 

"Grasshopper, I have so missed your philosophy lessons," John said. "How about you stick a sock in it?" He bashed the butt of his pistol into the base of Scorpius' neck and Scorpius collapsed in front of him. Aeryn looked down at Scorpius' prone body and then back at John. 

"You didn't kill him, did you?" She moved forward and pushed at him with the toe of her boot, then connected a little harder and a little harder. Before John realized it, she was kicking Scorpius with all her strength. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her towards him. 

"Aeryn. You didn't want him dead, remember?" He held her fast against him, her back to his chest, restraining her as best he could. He felt her tense up, breathing heavily and then she went limp. 

"I want what he took from me," she said. Her voice was strong, certain now. John released her. She turned to him and her eyes were cold. He stepped back. "Then we can do whatever you want with him," she said. 

******

"There's a Prowler over here," D'Argo called to Chiana, who was lagging behind him with Sikozu, both of them armed. After Jool's priests had seen Scorpius, he had decided to take matters into his own hands and, surprisingly the two girls had agreed to go with him, leaving the old woman behind with Jool. They'd been uncharacteristically quiet, guns drawn, as they all kept watch for the impossible—namely a walking, talking Scorpius. He was grateful that John and Aeryn weren't with them.

"What, do you think that's his?" Chiana asked. "You don't think he's just sitting there waiting, do you?"

He couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or fear that he heard in her voice. He hissed at her, annoyed, climbed the Prowler's steps and opened the canopy. There was nothing distinctive about this particular Prowler. It looked worn and battle scarred with smudges on its wings and along the hatch as though it had fled the tail end of an explosion. 

"D'Argo?" Chiana said then turned in frustration. "Great. See any Peacekeepers anywhere?" She stopped at the base of the Prowler's steps and looked at him, quickly losing patience. 

"There's nothing here," Sikozu said, quickly canvassing the area and returning. "This single Prowler. I see nothing else."

"It appears as though there were two people in this Prowler." D'Argo looked at the imprints on both seats and sniffed the air. "And they were in here for some time."

"What?" Chiana said. "Like nine solar days or so?"

D'Argo glared at her and climbed down the steps to stand next to her. "It's them. I can detect their scents. Crichton is so…"

"Smelly?" Sikozu offered.

"Distinctive," D'Argo finished. "I have no frelling idea why they're here but we'd better find them before Scorpius does. I don't want to have to dig a grave for John or Aeryn." 

"I don't know, D'Argo," Chiana began. "They may return here…" 

"Then why don't you wait here?" Sikozu said. "If it's someone else, just shoot them."

Chiana smiled snidely at her. "Yeah, thanks, Red. Why don't you wait and maybe some else will just shoot you?"

"You two can argue it out," D'Argo said. "I'm going to look for them. You might want to make yourselves useful and help me."

"Big D." D'Argo turned and saw John, his hand on Scorpius' shoulder, and Aeryn walking behind Scorpius, her rifle pointed at him. Scorpius' hands were tied in front of him but D'Argo raised his Qualta Blade level with Scorpius' chest and stood, ready.

"Should I kill him here or would you like to do the honors, Aeryn?" D'Argo asked as they stopped in front of him. Aeryn shook her head wearily, eyes closed and then looked at him.

"We've decided to let him live," she said. "For now." She pushed the gun further into the small of Scorpius' back. 

John slapped Scorpius on the shoulder, the force pushing him forward. "See, Scorp here dug his little self out of his grave with the help of some friends. And now he wants us to help him get back on the carrier. Don't you just dig it, D'Argo? Get it—Dig?"

D'Argo heard the fake cheeriness in John's voice—his expression was tight and didn't match his tone. Aeryn looked ready to collapse from a lack of sleep. Neither was in any condition to fly anywhere with Scorpius, whether the half-breed had been freshly resuscitated or not. 

"You're not going anywhere with him," D'Argo said, his Qualta still at the ready. 

"Yeah, man, we are." John looked at Scorpius who didn't appear intimidated in any way. If anything, it was evident that he was in charge, as much as the rifle and the rope might have said otherwise. "D'Argo, it's like this. We take Scorpy back and he gives us the kid. See how it works?"

"That's your plan?" Sikozu burst out. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." She looked at Aeryn. "I was led to believe that you were once a Peacekeeper officer. You do realize the stupidity of this idea, don't you?"

"Hey, hey, Sputnik, hold up there," John said. "This is where it gets interesting. We ride with Scorpy back to the carrier and pretend to be his prisoners. He turns us over to Grayza and then breaks us out with the kid and we all live happily ever after." John drew Winona from his holster and pointed it at Scorpius' head. "I don't think so, Grasshopper. But it was truly a lovely thought."

"John," Scorpius sighed and looked at D'Argo. "Ka D'Argo, you're a warrior. Tell John that walking onto the carrier is suicide. I have spies there, people who can assist us in other ways."

D'Argo growled at him. "Do not look to me, Scorpius. If it had been my decision, I would have already killed you." He turned to Aeryn. "So what do you plan to do?"

"Whoever rescued him left a Marauder," Aeryn said. "It's equipped to get past the security in place on the carrier. He has already assured us of that."

"And you believe him?" D'Argo asked it softly but he still saw her recoil defensively.

"I don't believe we have a choice," she said. "He has the ability to fly past the established checkpoints undetected. But we may need a back up." She looked at him. D'Argo saw her resolve and knew that whatever she requested, he would not reject. "Will you help us?"

"I will do whatever you ask," he said without looking at Chiana or Sikozu. 

******

"So the gang left you this, huh?" John stood behind Scorpius, Winona still pointed at Scorpius' head. Aeryn hadn't given up the rifle and they still had D'Argo and the girls backing them up. Yeah, their firepower was pretty impressive but not as much as the Marauder that Scorpy's homeboys had left him. The Marauder was at least three times the size of one of Moya's transports and towered over them all. It beat riding coach. 

"Yes, it's a Marauder," Scorpius said. He sounded irritated with them, like they were a bunch of kids playing soldier with one pissed off adult. "And, yes, Officer Sun, I meant what I said about its abilities. What more do you need to see?"

"Ah," D'Argo began. "Where are the commandos who rescued you? Hiding in there?" He pointed his Qualta blade in the direction of the ship. 

"Idiot, you would already be dead if they were still here," Scorpius hissed. "Their orders were to move with stealth. They've succeeded." He turned to Aeryn. "You would not recognize them if you saw them again."

"Just tell me how to open the frelling door," she said and pushed him towards the ship with the point of the rifle. He turned to her, whispered a code and she keyed it in. John watched, awed, as a ramp slid forward seamlessly from the base of the Marauder. 

"Whatever plan you have, John, it won't succeed," Scorpius said. "It was not my intent to return to the carrier so soon after…"

"After rising from the dead?" John finished. "Sorry to spoil your plans, Scorpius. But you kind of frelled with ours too so I'd say we're pretty much even. Why don't you stand over there like a good little cricket so we can talk?" He motioned to Chiana and she nodded, taking the rifle from him. 

"Come on," she said. "Let's move. And don't think for a minute I wouldn't blow your frelling head off so don't mess with me."

Scorpius nodded. "As you wish." He shook his head at them, almost in pity and allowed Chiana to stand guard over him.

"You too, Sputnik," John said. "Give her some help." 

Sikozu frowned. "You might want someone available to point out that the logistics of whatever plan you make guarantees its failure." 

"Aren't you ever quiet?" Aeryn said. "Just move." She raised her own rifle at Sikozu who followed Chiana a few feet away. She turned to John and the three of them—D'Argo, John and Aeryn moved a few feet further from Scorpius. 

John turned to D'Argo and put his hand on the Luxan's broad shoulder. "You're sure about this, D? Because it's going to get dangerous."

D'Argo turned to Aeryn. She kept her gaze on the butt of the rifle, intent on not pressuring him any further. 

"Just tell me about this frelled up plan of yours," D'Argo said. 

"Okay, big guy, this is the thing. That ship of yours can pretty much take out anything, right?" John began. 

"Well, of course, but it wouldn't match up against a Command Carrier." 

"No, no," John said. "I know that. But it can do a few things. It can run interference, it can take out a Prowler and it can cloak itself. Have you tried to hide it while flying?" 

D'Argo laughed, his deep voice booming. "Oh, so I am the prey? That's the plan?" He shook his head. "The girls aren't going to like it, John. They'll fight, they'll cry, they'll whine." He stopped and looked at Aeryn. "Not much more than they deserve. It might just be worth the ride." 

"We're thinking that you might be able to lure them away a little if they start following us or getting antsy," John said. "And then maybe just disappear. Does Lo'La leave any energy signature when she disappears?" 

D'Argo pursed his lips. "Considering that I only recently realized she could disappear, I don't think I know the answer to that." 

John clapped him on the shoulder. "Helluva a way to find out, huh, big guy?" 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4. 

There were many places to hide on a Command Carrier. This particular one, an improvement over the one Crichton had destroyed, held over 100,000 Peacekeepers. The security systems were improved, scanners at every entry point and guards posted in the event any unauthorized boarding was attempted. First Command knew that there were enemies beyond the insignificant and extremely fortunate John Crichton. Perhaps there were even enemies among them now, the ones that Braca couldn't see, whose motives he couldn't know.

As much as Grayza liked to believe that Braca was at her command, she was mistaken. Her powers over him appeared to be weakening as though he had built up immunity to a drug. He believed it was only a matter of time before she was removed from command like her predecessors had been, in another Peacekeeper power struggle conducted outside the purview of High Command. 

Part of Braca's job was to ensure that security was in place. He had hand-picked the guards, was certain that none of them had sworn an allegiance to Scorpius. An errant Prowler would have no chance of entering the Carrier without first being routed through central communications. Grayza had entrusted this to him and he had not disappointed her.

"Captain Braca." 

He stood at the passageway to her quarters. Grayza was dressed and sitting on her chair, a table in front of her lit up with military strategy maps. He snapped his heels together and waited.

"Come." She put out her hand and motioned him inside. As he entered, he saw a Peacekeeper officer, some faceless minion sitting on the floor near her, like a pet. Braca tried not to blink at the sight, to not notice it at all. She smiled at the officer and he smiled in return, then got up and left without looking at Braca.

"Ma'am?" Braca said through clenched teeth.

"Captain." She stood up and walked past the table towards him. "Any word on Crichton?"

"No, ma'am. There is no indication that they've rendezvoused with the leviathan." He swallowed hard, trying not to look at her as she walked around him, taking him in. He sensed that she was tired but she did nothing overt to give that away. 

"So we have a traitor and four escaped prisoners eluding the entire Peacekeeper force. Is that what you're telling meCaptain?" 

He felt her fingernails along the back of his neck and he did his best to keep perfectly still, to not provoke her in any way. At first, he'd been flattered by her attentions until he'd realized that he was just one more pawn to her. If there was one male she wanted in this universe, it was John Crichton and his destruction. No matter what the subject matter of their strategy sessions, they always ended with the name John Crichton. 

"Tell me, Braca," she continued. "What exactly do you find so interesting in the breeding sector? Do you have unauthorized offspring there?"

He kept his voice calm. "Ma'am?"

"Oh, there's no shame in it, really. Senior officers breeding outside the accepted channels is not unheard of. And it certainly won't ruin your career." She stopped behind him, her breath on his neck. "Unless, of course, there's more to it than that. Something you're not telling me perhaps?"

His nose caught the fragrance before his body felt its effect. "Something, Commandant Grayza? What do you suspect, ma'am?"

"Oh, I don't know." She stood in front of him now, her lavender eyes burning into him and he could feel his resolve turn to liquid in the face of any attempts to control himself. "What is possibly so important in that sector, Braca? What are you keeping from me?"

She waved her fingers under his nose and he fought back tears of frustration and hatred, hatred of both her and himself as he allowed her to lead wherever she wanted him to go. 

*****

It stood out in the distance, a ship that would have been the equivalent of 1000 football fields if anyone in this part of the universe knew what a football field was. The Command Carrier. 

John glanced at Aeryn and saw her bite her lower lip as she piloted the Marauder, trying to conceal her own anxiety. His nerves were strung tightly-- r_attlers, damn rattlers, _hissing away like he was about to fall into a whole pit of them. He and Aeryn had dumped Scorpius in the Marauder's small holding facility. The ship reminded him of Talyn in a way—black, red and claustrophobic.

"How far?" John asked.

"We still have at least an arn before we reach it," Aeryn said, checking the sensors. "I've not picked up any indication that they suspect anything unusual." 

"And D'Argo?" He looked around, wishing this thing had a rear view mirror. 

"Still tracking behind us. He won't be able to get much closer without risk." She took a deep breath. "We need to talk," she said and looked at him, eyes narrowed as though she dared him to protest.

Timing was everything and obviously she wasn't familiar with that saying. "This isn't going to be a long good-bye, is it? I hate long good-byes."

She blinked as though she'd been struck, naked pain in her expression. She looked down, trying to hide it. "John said that" she cleared her throat. 

"Before he died," John finished quietly. "Crap." 

"It wasn't a long good-bye," she continued. She looked at him then away; her voice was soft but matter of fact. "He died peacefully. In my arms. His painwas short-lived. At least, I prefer to think of it that way."

"Aeryn." He ran his hands over his face. "We don't have to talk about it." And he wasn't sure he wanted to know how John Crichton had died. It was all too bizarro world for him. _It could have been me. _Easy to assume but he knew that he would have done exactly the same thing. She was the only thing that separated him from the other guy. Everything she and Crichton had done would have gone exactly the same had he been the guy with the black T-shirt. 

She turned to him and smiled slightly, almost wistful. "The child wasn't planned."

"I know that." He stayed at his console, wanting to move so that he could stand next to her and hold her but he held fast to where he was, feeling his own ghost standing between them. 

"And you're risking your life to save it. Did you mean what you saidbefore?" 

"That it's mine? Yeah." He nodded. All that flying had given him plenty of time to turn it over in his head, to accept that no matter how the kid had come into existence, it was his and Aeryn's. He would no more abandon it than he would have abandoned her. He had put his life in her hands without forethought of how they were going to get here or how they were going to succeed. She could not rest until they found the baby. He had accepted that he would rather die than run the risk of never seeing her again. 

"John, I can't" She began but her words were interrupted by the Marauder equivalent of a tin cup being dragged across metal prison bars. 

"Frell," she said. She stood up and reached for her pistol. 

"No, no," he said. "You fly. Let me check this out." He pulled Winona from his holster and moved towards the back of the Marauder where Scorpius was locked up. Scorpius dragged his cooling rod apparatus back and forth across the metal bars, his only means of making loud and obnoxious noises.

"What the hell you doin', Scorpy?" John asked. He put his hand through the bars and on Scorpius' head and pushed back.

"Can't your inferior ears hear the alarm, John? You are wasting valuable time talking. We're approaching the first checkpoint and only I can pass the voice scan. You need to let me out." He was still tied up and he leaned against the wall of the small containment area. Apparently, they weren't built for much more than one prisoner. John supposed Peacekeepers rarely took prisoners—why waste the space?

"What? Aeryn?" He turned towards her and saw her nod. 

"He's right. They're hailing us. Let him out," she said. 

John unlocked the cell, pulled Scorpius out and pushed him towards Aeryn. "Do whatever you need to do so we can throw you back in there," he said. 

Aeryn took Scorpius by the arm. "Come on then." She pushed him towards a console they hadn't used yet. John had never been in a Marauder; the most he could do was ride shotgun and hope he didn't break anything. It was almost as bad as Lo'La. At least Lo'La had a couple of chairs. 

Scorpius held out his bound hands to Aeryn. "No," she said. "Your mouth is free. That's all you'll need."

Scorpius sighed and reached out to open a channel.
"Identify yourself," a male voice said over the comm channel. 

_"Officer Mol, Ukarian regiment," _Scorpius said into the comm. He turned to John smugly, waiting_. _

John looked at Aeryn. "That's it? He couldn't even change his voice?"

She shrugged and shook her head, unsure. John strode over to Scorpius and leaned over his shoulder. "Okay, Officer Mol'_. _Wrap this up."

Scorpius waved him away. "Patience, John."

The response came back over the channel. "_You have clearance, Officer. Landing bay twelve." _

Scorpius turned to John and smiled, showing all his bad teeth. "That's a cargo and supply bay, usually with the least security." He clapped John on the shoulder companionably, using his bound hands almost like a club. John jumped back a little. "You've just become a supply runner," he continued. "Much lower profile than a Prowler pilot or a Commando unit. I've demonstrated my good will." He held out his hands. John looked at Aeryn but she shook her head. 
"No," she said.
"Officer Sun," Scorpius said. "An act of good faith on your part would certainly strengthen my trust."
John laughed. "You got _cojones_ the size of grapefruits, Scorpy. We didn't kill you. That's our act of good faith. So keep talking before we change our minds." He pushed the pulse pistol at Scorpius' face.
Scorpius turned away and paced around the Marauder. "There are spare uniforms and helmets in storage. And encrypted comms."
"Okay." John motioned at him to continue. "Comms aren't much good if we don't have anyone but each other to talk to. We don't intend to get separated."
"And I didn't intend to accompany you to the command carrier. I left one of the comms with your new shipmate—Sikozu, is it? She seemed willing enough, given that I'd saved her life." 
"The magic act continues. You're a sly dog, Grasshopper," John said. "Now if we get into a jam, D'Argo can hear us die." He sighed and looked at Aeryn then did a double take. Her attention was focused solely on Scorpius. She walked slowly to where he and Scorpius stood until she was nose to nose with Scorpius. 
"Why," she said. She hooked her thumbs in her gun belt as though she was keeping herself from pulling her pulse pistol and shooting the bastard. "Why did you do it?" Her tone was low and threatening. 
"There are greater things at stake, Officer Sun. Unless you no longer value the Sebacean race. John had the ability to choose right from wrong, to assist us in our inevitable battle against the Scarrans. Do you want to see your child raised in a world where she can be raped and killed simply for being Sebacean?" He leaned into Aeryn, matching her focus. "I needed a lure. It was nothing more. And when you were not able to provide me with a location for John Crichton and I found this childI knew that I would eventually find John." He turned away and walked back to the comms console. "I just hadn't envisioned that Grayza would usurp my command so quickly."
She followed Scorpius and grabbed his arm, spinning him towards her. "She?" she sputtered harshly.
Scorpius shook her off and nodded. "I've told you, I have my informants. And they inform me that you have a daughter, Officer Sun. Her name is A'lya Lyczac. A family name, Lyczac, is it not?" He paused and turned to John. "Crichton, I will give you one last opportunity to hear reason. The child is safe. You and I flying into the Carrier serves no purpose. Perhaps Officer Sun alone might have a chance but youand me?"
John laughed, almost too loudly, the reality of the situation finally hitting him. He slapped his hand on his thigh. Aeryn and Scorpius both stared at him, wearing almost identical looks, both of which registered that John Crichton had finally gone crackers. 
"Let Officer Sun' go alone. Do you really think that I hauled my ass out here, hauled your ugly ass in here and came all this way so I could give Aeryn a kiss while she walks onto the Titanic all by herself?" He pulled at his lip in thought. "Aeryn and I go together. You do what you want."
"No." Aeryn's tone was firm. But when John looked at her he could only see fear in her eyes. He shot a quizzical look at her as she turned to Scorpius. "Keep him here," she said.
"You see, John," Scorpius said. "Even Officer Sun has come to her senses."
"You." He pointed at Scorpius. "Shut up. Aeryn" 
"No, John." She shook her head slowly. "I won't watch them capture you. I won't watch you die, not for me. Not even for her. You have better odds here with him. You're both Grayza's enemy."
"'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'" John muttered. "Or politics makes strange bedfellows'. The answer is, no, Aeryn. You said it yourself—you'd rather we all die together."
Her eyes lit up in frustration and she turned away then back to him. He saw her swallow hard—was she choking back words or tears? "I'd rather we not die at all. Why are you choosing now to be so stubborn?" she said. 
He reached out for her and pulled her towards him, gripping her arms tightly. "Because I love you," he said finally. He heard Scorpius hiss in disgust. "And I will not be responsible for your death again any more than you want to see mine. So knock off the martyr crap, Aeryn." He loosened his grip and ran a hand over her hair. "We started this thing together and we're going to end it together. Sound familiar?"
Before she could answer, he heard a high-pitched squeal from the comms channel. He turned to Scorpius and grabbed him before Scorpius could answer.
"You'd better hope that's not Grayza on the phone," he said. 
"_John."_ It was D'Argo. John pushed Scorpius towards the console. "_Aeryn?_" D'Argo pressed on.
"Open the channel," John said. Scorpius did as he was told. "Yeah, D'Argo?"
_"Sikozu has this commI wasn't sure" _D'Argo sounded confused and then John heard another voice, dripping with annoyance and impatience
"_So he decided to contact you over a potentially unsecured channel," _Sikozu's voice argued_. "I see that Scorpius can be trusted."_
    __
_"On the matter of comms," _D'Argo inserted_. "John, we're maintaining our distance and so far nothing looks out of the ordinary. We have provisions for five solar days. Will that be sufficient?"_
    __
John looked at Aeryn. She rubbed at her forehead absently and nodded. "We'll know by then," she said finally.
"Yeah, D'Argo. Five days should do it. If that" He choked up. "Thanks, D'Argo."
"_Good luck, my friend." _John heard a note of regret in the Luxan's deep voice and then the channel went silent. He turned to Aeryn and Scorpius. 
"It's now or never," he said and, surprisingly, he felt peace. 
__


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.
How quickly a life could end. For the last half arn, Aeryn had considered that with little thought to anything else. The image of D'Argo's ship firing and obliterating a living creature within microts played in her mind, over and over. She had tried to shake the image but it had only brought on others. Zhaan. Xhalax. Crais and Talyn. John himself, all the deaths she had seen in the last cycle, some more intimate than others but all of them the same. _How quickly a life could end. _
    __
She watched as John suited up into the Peacekeeper infantry uniform—heavy black helmet, broad chest and shoulder guards, shiny black boots. The helmet completely covered his face. As long as he left it on, he would be one more faceless Peacekeeper out of thousands. If he took it off and was spotted, it would be over and she would be faced with his death again. Fatalism was creeping over her soul and she could not fight it off. Were they truly fated to end it like this?
She had no plan, not one that was laid out, piece by piece, as a soldier should. She knew they were landing in the cargo bay and that Scorpius' assessment of security was correct. She knew they were disguised well enough. She knew where the child was kept and who was keeping watch over it. She even had an idea of how they would get back to the Marauder with the child in tow. It was what she didn't know that worried her. Her mind was too clouded with love, regret and fear to see how their enemies might strike. Or maybe she had just finally refused to do so. 
In spite of John's protests, she believed that Scorpius' goals, at least this time, were equal to theirs—get off and on the carrier before they were found out. She had thrown Scorpius back in containment more for John's sake than for hers. He had given her the information she'd wanted and she'd no option but to hope that it was true, to hope that John's value to him and concern over Grayza exceeded any personal vendetta he might have against them. Scorpius was a patient creature and he would bide his time until he felt it was appropriate to regain his command. Or kill them.
"So, do I looked like a Nazi?" John turned to her and put the helmet on his head. "I can hardly breathe. How do Sebaceans handle it?"
"We get used to it." She stared at him in the uniform then at herself, trying to overcome the disgust she felt at seeing herself like this again. They'd all had their intentions—Scorpius' not to return to the carrier so soon and hers to never return at all. What was it she'd heard John saythe road to hell was paved with good intentions. She now had an understanding of what that meant.
John took off the helmet and stood at the console across from her, glancing briefly at the flashing lights that meant nothing to him and then back at her.
"You've been quiet, baby," he said. "And it would be a stupid question to ask if anything was wrong. Do you want to talk?" He came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders as best he could. She turned to him and smiled but she felt no humor in it. Exhaustion was snaking its way through her bones and she was doing all she could to keep it at bay.
"II look at you and I see him. But now it's you, too." She felt John pull back a bit. She took his hand and turned to face him. "No," she said firmly. "There is no difference anymore." She paused. "Before anything else happensI want you to know. I love you, John Crichton. You. And I'm sorry."
She turned away before he could kiss her. He touched her hair, his hand brushing against her neck and then he turned and walked back to his place across from her and they both stared at what lay ahead. 

____________________________

Commandant Mele-on Grayza was visiting the breeding sector. When the call to stations had sounded, Co-kurra Strapa had done the first thing that had occurred to him. He had taken the infant—A'lya Lyczac—a pack of nutrients, a blanket and a few other essentials and had gone to cargo bay thirteen, the last one in this sector, to hide and hope that she would not cry before he could get there. 
His hopes had been answered, assisted by the sleeping serum that he had administered to her. She had slept soundly through his passage, bundled up like cargo, her supplies kept in a black pack attached to his belt. No one had bothered to stop or search him. 
Scorpius had pulled Co-kurra from the wreckage of the Aurora Chair after John Crichton had drained Co-kurra's mind of any useful wormhole knowledge. At first Co-kurra had thought Scorpius would kill him for failing to see through Crichton's deception but Scorpius had surprised him. Instead, he had become Scorpius' ally. He had dispatched the Marauder crew that had found Scorpius buried on the planet, Arnessk. He had encrypted and fitted the communications on the Marauder that had been left for Scorpius. And he was the one whom Scorpius would contact when he felt it was time to return to the carrier. 
Co-kurra had gotten that call too, much more quickly than he had expected. He had warned Scorpius to wait until Grayza had weakened, until her shaky hold on the carrier had relaxed. Her powers over the other males on the ship were short-lived and only the most dull-witted of them were still susceptible to her special brand of persuasion. He was not one of those males. Their plan had been to meet in bay twelve but Co-kurra had chosen this route instead. There were more holds and hiding places and passageways that were not part of the ship's overall schematics. He would hold out here until he could make his way back to their meeting point. If he could make it back at all.
He placed the still sleeping infant in a storage container he'd found, one used for transport of small, living creatures. He stole a look at her before securing her. She was a beautiful child; the mix of both species creating a DNA signature that would make her immune to heat delirium, adding to the Sebacean strength. He had brain patterns of both Aeryn Sun and John Crichton from their times spent in the Chair. Crichton's intellect was superior and the child seemed to have a similar pattern based on the tests Co-kurra had run so far. She was a scientific discovery. To his dismay, Co-kurra had also found that she was only an infant, a living creature and he had felt moved beyond the science of it all. 
He touched her head and she stirred a bit but still slept as he awaited orders. 

_________________________________

"Where is she?" Grayza's voice broke through the stillness as she marched through the breeding sector, two peacekeeper officers flanking her and Braca following at her heels. The techs were lined up in formation, each one stationed near a group of infants, all of whom meant nothing to Grayza. 
"You." She stopped and turned to a female tech. "Where is the infant A'lya Lyczac?"
"Ma'am, I do not know, Ma'am." The tech's voice trembled. Instilling fear always motivated Grayza and she stood, staring down at the hapless tech, absolutely sure this one knew nothing but not willing to let her off so easily.
"Who are you hiding, Technician?" Her pale lavender eyes stared into the tech's dark ones. "Is there someone here you are protecting? Certainly, that protection is not worth the price of your life." She motioned to the two officers and they both stood on either side of the tech, waiting for Grayza's orders
"I do not know that infant," the tech continued. "Ma'am, there are one hundred children in this sector alone. I am only responsible for five." The tech glanced at the officers on either side of her.
Grayza turned to Braca. "Is this true?"
Braca nodded shakily. "Yes, Ma'am. The one you seek isn't here. Co-kurra is the tech and I do not see him in formation." 
"The call was for all techs. Why isn't he here? Who is in charge?"
Another technician stepped forward quickly, a heavyset female who looked fit only for tech work. "I am. Senior Technician Pak. Co-kurra has not reported for duty and appears to have gone missing. We have sounded the alarm for him."

Grayza nodded in satisfaction. "So it's just a matter of time, then. The carrier will be searched." She turned to Braca. "If the child escapes with him, you will have an appointment with the chair, Captain. Please bear that in mind." She turned briskly, Braca so close behind her that he nearly fell with her movement. "Technicians, dismissed," she said. 

*****

"Unlock me!" Scorpius had been yelling at them for awhile now. John had lost track of how long. He stood behind Aeryn at the navigational console as she guided the Marauder smoothly into landing bay twelve. Apparently "Officer Mol" wasn't too important because no one had tried to get them on the horn since their initial contact.

"What're we going to do with him?" John asked. Aeryn completed her landing procedures and then grabbed her helmet. There had been little talk between them as though she had wanted to clear her mind of any emotional baggage. They were going into battle and it was something Aeryn Sun understood better than he did.

"Unlock him," she said. She pulled the helmet over her head and he did the same, their comms tucked safely inside their clothing. Scorpius' assurances that the comms could not be traced hadn't left him real confident but they didn't have a lot of options. And he figured Aeryn was right. Scorpy wanted to be caught here about as much as they did. 

"Unlock him? What?" That one threw him for a loop and he took the helmet off to look at her. She stopped and grabbed it out of his hand and pulled it roughly over his head again.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, rubbing his neck where the helmet had made contact. "That hurt."

She faced him, helmet on, her hands on his arms, clutching him hard. He couldn't see her eyes even this close. "Do not take that off again, John. Once we step out of this ship, we are Peacekeepers. Nothing more." 

"All right." He reached for her helmet and slid it off her head. He couldn't get a read on her expression. It was as if she'd been transformed back to what she'd been before, poker face firmly in place. Peacekeeper Aeryn. He knew better and he understood why it had to be like this. StillHe removed his helmet one more time then ran his fingers over her cheekbones and kissed her. She didn't move away.

"For luck," he said finally. He handed her helmet back to her and put on his own then went to the containment area. "Scorpy, Aeryn's taking pity on you, though I'm not sure why." He unlocked the enclosure and Scorpius stepped out.

"You certainly look like a Peacekeeper," he said. "Let's hope that you are convincing when the time comes." He started for the door of the Marauder but Aeryn blocked his path, Peacekeeper rifle in hand.

"You're not leaving without us," she said, the rifle pointed at his chest.

"Aeryn, remind me why he's out?" John asked. 

"John, locked up here I am a liability," Scorpius said. "Officer Sun understands that. Every Marauder is eventually searched for contraband. I would be located, questions would be asked" He smiled. "I, of course, would be forced to answer them. Who brought me here? John Crichton. Where is he? Looking for his child in the breeding sector. The persuasion required would be minimal. I'm not going to wager that your life is worth more than mine." He leaned in towards John, confidentially. "Grayza's ways do not work on me, John. I wish that I could say the same for you. You may be an even a bigger liability to Officer Sun than I."

"What is he talking about?" Aeryn asked. Her voice was nasal, muffled by the helmet. It reminded John, absurdly, of those storm troopers in Star Wars. They all sounded and looked the same. That was the point, wasn't it?

"It'll be fine, Aeryn." He turned back to Scorpius. "We do this right and we won't be running into Grayza. And how come you didn't tell me before that this thing's going to be searched?"

"It's of no consequence," Scorpius said. "You obtain what you came for, you return here and then you leave, using the same procedure as going in. I have other plans. Officer Sun understands the process and will return at the appropriate time. My spy will reset the voice command to answer to hers."

"It sounds like you and Aeryn have been making plans without me." John took the helmet off again and wiped the sweat from his eyes. "And since I didn't find any place to lie down and take a nap, it kind of makes me wonder when you two had time to communicate. I mean, it wasn't in front of me." He looked at Aeryn and waited but she refused to remove the helmet.

"You haven't answered me, John," she said.

"There isn't something else going on here, is there, Aeryn?" John said. He turned to Scorpius. "You fried her in the chair, you took her baby" He grabbed Scorpius and pushed him up against the wall. "What the hell else did you do to her? Harvey's cousin hiding in her someplace?"

"John, what did he mean?" she asked. 

"Obfuscation, John." Scorpius shook him off and moved away from the door. "Answer her question and I will answer yours."

"John" Aeryn's voice told him that she was running out of patience. 

"Heppel oil," he said. "Ever heard of it?" Maybe it was a bad time to dispel his personal demons. He had managed to hold them at bay this far, convincing himself that he wouldn't have to worry about Grayza because they weren't going to see her. He would no more expect to run into her as he would expect to see the President of the Unites States walking through downtown Washington.

"I know what it is," Aeryn said softly. She took off her helmet now and he recognized what he saw. It looked like pity, to him. Her gaze held his, boring into him that way only she knew. He wanted to turn away, to just skip the whole damn thing but he couldn't tear himself away from her. 

"Grayza" he began. He turned towards Scorpius but Aeryn cupped her hands around his face before he could move.

"Don't," she said. "You don't have to say anything."

"Aeryn"

"No." She put two fingers to his lips to quiet him. "I know what it is," she repeated. "I understand what it does. And I understand what it did to you. Don't re-live it for my sake. I understand." She kept her hands on his face. "Now the question is, what do we do about this?" She released him and looked at Scorpius as if she really expected an answer. 

"I have reason to believe that she is" Scorpius paused, almost politely. "Weakening. Perhaps fortune will smile upon you, Crichton."

"And the answer to my question is" John waited. 

"No. I did nothing to Officer Sun. Nothing else." He turned to Aeryn. "You understand procedure and regulation. We are talking about nothing more than that. I am giving you access because you can fly a Marauder. John cannot." He looked at John. "Is that sufficient explanation?"

"I'll believe you a lot more when I get what we came for and we're the hell out of here." He nodded at Aeryn and she opened the door. He looked around. Nothing but a few techs in the distance and none of them seemed the slightest bit interested in them. 

"Let's go, Scorpy Sue," he said. "I want to see if you've frelled us over or not." 

"You should have let Officer Sun plan your exit strategy, John." Scorpius looked close to nervous but it was obvious he wasn't going to make a stink about it. Aeryn shouldered the rifle. There was no reason for any of them to call attention to themselves. 

"He walks between us," she said. "I will lead. We'll go to the first cargo hold we see until we can tie him up again." 

"Okay." He prodded Scorpius in the back, Winona holstered at his side. Scorpius raised his hands in mock surrender then dropped them to his sides as they followed Aeryn out of the Marauder. The door closed behind them quietly and they were in landing bay twelve. They stepped away from the Marauder and began walking towards a cargo hold about three hundred feet away. 

"Wait." Scorpius stopped and put his hand to his head as though he was listening to something. John almost walked into him. He fought the urge to take off his helmet and he felt sweat running down his back. This was too easy, way too easy. Dread tickled his spine and his stomach started doing flip-flops. He'd been in confined spaces, he'd worn helmets but he'd never felt this claustrophobic before.

"We have to keep going," Aeryn said. "Scorpius."

"Aeryn," John said quietly. "I can't breathe in this thing. I need to take it off."

"Don't touch it." She slapped his hand away from his head. "Scorpius?" Her head turned towards Scorpius.

"An alarm has sounded," Scorpius said. "He informs me that they're searching for him." He moved his hand from his head and turned to John. "You are on your own. Shoot me now if you wish but I will not risk my capture for you." He broke away from them and walked calmly towards the Marauder.

"Damn!" John whispered. "Scorpius! Scorp—"

"It's too late, John. He's gone." Her hand gripped his arm and she pulled him around the corner into the cargo hold, shutting the door behind them. 

"The son of a bitch is taking our getaway car," he muttered. He pulled the helmet off and took a deep breath. No doubt, he would have made a crappy Peacekeeper. "What the hell are we going to do now?"

"Scorpius' ally has been discovered," she said. "If they haven't already found him, they're going to search every part of this ship. Every landing bay, every cargo hold." She took off her helmet and rubbed her forehead in thought. "There's another way. If we don't arouse suspicion, if we can perhaps keep one step ahead of themplay our parts, participate in the search if we have to." 

"Yeah?" John said. "Saw that in a movie once. Sort of. The heroes and heroine end up trapped in a giant trash compactor"

Aeryn shook her head, not quite following him. "A movie. One of those talking pictures? Yoda? That serves no purpose at this point, John."

He grinned at her. "It kind of gives me an idea though, about hiding out. This thing has sewers, vents, airductsIt's like a city."

"Yes, but—"

"Do they search all that when they're looking for someone?"

"Typically, no. Because no one would be foolish enough to conceal themselves in the sewers or ventilation shafts." 

"Except us. No one but us, Aeryn. And if we can figure out a way to get from this level to the breeding sector level we might still have a chance. And we still have the comms and D'Argo out there."

"That's insane," she said. "We can't risk D'Argo and the others. It's enough that we've asked them to come this far." 

"No more insane than coming back here in the first place. With our record, you didn't really think it would be easy, did you?" He brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"Perhaps I didn't really think at all." The cargo hold was about the size of a small shower stall and they were jammed in there with actual cargo. He stood less than a foot from her. She sighed and looked at him then leaned in and kissed him.

"For luck, as you say," she said. She grabbed the door handle; the door pulled away from her hand. There wasn't enough room for John to reach for his pulse pistol. They were at the mercy of whatever was on the other side of the door.

******

"Co-kurra!" John blinked at the light illuminating Co-kurra's oddly shaped head. The little creature stared at him, almost surprised. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Co-kurra looked left and right and then pulled Aeryn's arm. Aeryn pulled back and would have pulled him into the cargo hold but there just wasn't enough room.

"Release me," she said, her voice deadly and Co-kurra did what he was told.

"There is no time, Crichton." He looked around again, furtively. "You must do as I say or you will lose it all."

"Say what?" John blinked at him and shook his head. "No"

"Scorpius' informant," Aeryn said. John felt her take a deep breath against him. "I remember." She stepped forward and grabbed the little creature by the throat. "You were there, weren't you, Co-kurra. You were the technician Scorpius enlisted—"

"Aeryn," John whispered into her ear. "Let him go. It's not going to change anything now." He pressed on her arm gently, forcing it down and she released her grip. "Now let's put our gear back on before someone sees us."

She nodded and they both pulled the heavy, black helmets over 

their heads so that he could return to near suffocation. 

"Scorpy left you holding the bag, Co-kurra, so I hope you're not going to screw us too," John said. "We might be your only hope." He leaned into the cargo hold and picked up his rifle. Aeryn had never taken hers off. 

"Oh, no, Crichton, Scorpius has done no such thing. I am only here to tell you where you can find your daughter and how you can leave this carrier without being seen." Co-kurra held his hands in front of him, tapping his fingers together nervously. The guy had always been a bundle of nerves and it only served to set John off even more. 

"I don't trust him," Aeryn said. She reached for the pulse pistol holstered at her side.

"You trusted Scorpius and now you're going to jam on this guy? Come on." He touched her elbow. "Aeryn, think about it. We've come this far." He turned his head towards Co-kurra. "How do you know, Co-kurra?"

"He's a breeding tech," Aeryn said. "You can tell by his uniform insignia."

"Oh, hey, I skipped that part of Peacekeeper training, Aeryn. So he's the guy who's been watching over her." He reached for Winona and pulled her from the holster, sticking the pistol in Co-kurra's face. "Am I right, Co-kurra? Have you been A'lya's nanny? And please, don't lie. I hate being lied to and I am totally out of patience." He felt Aeryn flinch at the mention of A'lya's name. It was still too fresh and new to her, startling to know that the baby even had a name. 

"I have hidden her in cargo bay thirteen," Co-kurra said, his voice trembling. "The hold used for living creatures. Officer Sun will know which that is. Please, Crichton, you must believe me. Your time is running short. Your child lives but possibly not for much longer if you don't act quickly."

"Lucky thirteen." John kept the pistol in Co-kurra's face. "How come Scorpy said it was twelve?"

"II had to change. It doesn't matter. In her nutrient pack, you'll find schematics to the passageway we used to release Officer Sun before" He looked away, disturbed, then back at Aeryn. "I am sorry, Officer Sun. I was only following orders."

"And this passageway does what?" John said.

"It's your trash compactor', John," Aeryn said. It was her turn to act as the voice of reason. Her hand moved to his, covering both it and the pulse pistol until he lowered the gun and re-holstered it. "And you're right. We've come this far. Let's not waste more time here." She moved past Co-Kurra, not looking at him again and then stopped and waited for John. "Let's go."

She started into a jog. John looked at her and then back at Co-kurra but he was already scurrying back towards the place where the Marauder had been stationed. It was gone. He ran towards Aeryn's side and she slowed down a bit, her gait even and controlled.

"You know, they barely got out of the trash compactor," he said.

"And we'll be lucky to get out of here," she said, "So I think my example parallels yours."

"You've got a lot to learn about the movies, Aeryn," he said softly.

She laughed and cocked her head towards him. "Frell you, Crichton," she said and he thought he heard her laugh again. 

*****

There were two Peacekeepers posted at the entry to bay thirteen. It was less than John had expected. The odds were good, as far as he was concerned. Two to two and he had a pissed off ex-Peacekeeper with raging maternal instinct on his side. Those were good odds indeed. The area itself was much less imposing than the place they'd left, like a storage room someone had tacked on at the last minute. He wondered if Aeryn remembered this the way she had remembered Co-kurra, if all of it was bringing back more memories and pain to cloud her judgment. If it was, she wasn't giving it away. 

"Two," she said. "We've had worse odds."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Plan?" 

"Shift change," she said. "Follow my lead and don't say anything." She turned to him, her helmet cocked at an odd angle as though she was trying to search out his eyes. "Are you ready?"

"Let's roll," he said. 

She nodded and straightened up. "Walk next to me, in formation. Same pace. We're a unit, John. Remember that."

"Like football campyeah, I'll remember, Aeryn." He stood next to her and then they started forward. He could hardly see out of the helmet, his inferior vision a detriment. He stumbled and she caught his arm. He quickly fell back into pace with her. It was like being in the passageways of Moya. Walking and talking. He concentrated on that until they stopped in front of the two guards.

"You're relieved of duty," Aeryn said. "Orders of Captain Braca."

"We have no such orders." The guard stepped forward. Aeryn did too, challenging him. John stayed where he was, eyeing the other guard and then looked back at Aeryn. She and the guard walked around each other, each sizing up the other. Whatever she'd become in the last three cycles was sublimated to what she'd been before that—one hundred percent Peacekeeper. He watched as this odd dance continued, at one point not sure which Peacekeeper was which. 

"Captain Braca insists that you return to command for further orders," she said. "Failure to follow this command will result in disciplinary action. There is a technician, Co-kurra, who has left the carrier without authorization. He is believed to have last been seen in bay eleven. You are wasting valuable time."

The guard stopped and stepped back then looked at her. "I don't believe you have any orders from the Captain." He turned to his partner. "Do you?"

"I think they've just come from the lounge," the partner said. A female. "Too much fellip nectar, eh, mate?"

Efficient, ruthless killing machines, John thought. Deep down they were all just grunts.

"Oh, you're going to make this difficult, are you?" Aeryn said. "Stand aside." The guard she'd argued with rushed her. She sidestepped him and stuck out her fist enough to land a blow to his chest. He fell to the ground with a heavy smack. His partner looked at John, John looked at Aeryn and then he did exactly what he'd learned in football camp. He lowered his shoulder and lunged at his dance partner, hitting her square in the abdomen and knocking her to the ground as well, where she lay still. 

"Now what?" he breathed out, rubbing the back of his neck.

Aeryn's sparring partner held his chest and sat up. She kicked him once under the chin and he fell backwards like a sack of cement. 

"Now we get what we came for." She grabbed John's arm and stepped over the two fallen Peacekeepers through the doorway. 

*****

Chiana spotted the ships on the scan before D'Argo did, two Prowlers following a Marauder that by all accounts looked to be going as fast as it possibly could. 

"D'Argo!" Chiana elbowed him and pointed to the scanner and then the viewport. "It's them and there are Peacekeepers on their eemas."

"What?" D'Argo checked his screen. They had been cloaked for the better part of two arns. So far, no one had spotted them. "Sikozu, get them on the comms before I start chasing the frelling thing."

"Crichton? Aeryn? Do you hear me?" she said. There was static as the comm tried to find its frequency and then a voice. It wasn't the one D'Argo wanted to hear. 

_"Sikozu." _It was Scorpius. D'Argo hissed and took the comm from her hand. 

"Scorpius. Let me talk to Crichton or Aeryn." 

"Officer Sun is piloting this Marauder and Crichton was injured in a fire fight with the Peacekeepers. Rather than argue with me, I suggest you provide cover so that we can escape the Prowlers." 

D'Argo looked at the two girls and both of them just stared back, neither offering any suggestion. 

"Well?" he said finally. "Do you believe him?"

Chiana shook her head. "Not for a microt. I think you should shoot the whole frelling lot of em." 

D'Argo shook his head in frustration and then turned back to the comm. "Until I hear from Crichton or Aeryn, you are on your own, Scorpius," he said. 

They all heard the angry growl from the other end of the comm and then a high pitched squeal as the link went dead. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

Bay thirteen was a miniature twelve, John realized, and then wondered why he was expecting anything different. A medieval torture chamber? Hynerian heads hanging on the wall? A Scorpy family photo? But it was just a sterile, empty space, completely innocuous. Aeryn continued forward, knowing exactly where she was going and he had to run to keep up with her. She walked directly to a line of four small bins, paused, then looked around quickly before sliding out of her helmet.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. "Leave the damn thing on." 

She looked at him and chewed on her lower lip. The act was over. Her hair hung in her face, tangled, matted to her forehead with perspiration. He could see that she was fighting to keep a smile from her face, the joy of seeing her child almost too great. Her face looked younger, hopeful and he tried to contain his own smile, not sure when or if he'd ever seen her like this. 

"I am not a Peacekeeper," she said finally. She flung open the cargo bin and then it seemed to him that all the breath went out of her body. He rushed to her side and stared as she picked up a sheaf of schematics with one hand. They spilled from her grasp almost immediately and she turned to him, dropping her helmet to the floor.

"He lied—Scorpius, Co-kurra. One of them. Both of them. She's not here." She picked up the schematics and pushed them into his gloved hands. "Take these and find the escape route. Then take it."

"Aeryn—"

"No, John." She forced his hands against his chest. He lost his grip and he saw some of the bundle fall to the ground. "Take them and go. Go." She kicked her helmet like a soccer ball. It went spinning and slammed up against a wall, the faceplate shattering into tiny pieces. She took her rifle in her hand and started for the doorway just as one of the guards they'd fought off stood up. She aimed the rifle without stopping and fired. The guard dropped dead.

John grabbed her arm and she spun around, her face contorted in anger and pain; he took a step back at the violence he saw in her eyes.

"You can't shoot everyone you see," he said.

"Watch me."

"Suicide by cop. No, Aeryn." He forced the rifle down and pulled her to him. Every muscle in her body was rigid. 

"Youyou are leaving," she said. She pushed him away. "I don't care what I said before. You are not going to die here, John. Go. Please, go." 

"No." He shook his head then saw her eyes widen in surprise. "Aeryn?" he asked. "What the hell" 

"Aeryn Sun, stand fast," a male voice commanded, coming nearer. "You are under arrest by orders of Captain Braca."

"You're a Peacekeeper," she whispered to him. "Just play your part." 

He turned to see a squadron jogging towards her, locked and loaded. It was too late to disguise who she was. He reached for her arm and tried to pull her away but she delivered a boot to his stomach and then an undercut to his chin. He was out before he hit the ground. 

___________________________________

Two peacekeeper officers dragged her into the empty landing bay twelve where another squadron awaited her. Somewhere behind her, John lay sprawled on the ground. No one had seemed particularly interested in him; he was just one more Peacekeeper who'd taken a hit from an escaping prisoner. 

She struggled against her guards; her struggles were met with a fist to her mouth that left her bloody. Commandant Mele-On Grayza stood at the ready, hands behind her back, expectant. 

"I would imagine this is not the reunion you were expecting," Grayza began, walking slowly around her. "Rank and regiment, soldier."

"I have no rank and regiment," Aeryn said flatly. Grayza stopped in front of her and smiled, almost kindly.

"You are a traitor then. Because your service record indicates you are Officer Aeryn Sun, Ikarian Company, Pleisar Regiment. Daughter of Xhalax Sun and Talyn Lyczac both deceased. Captain Bialar Crais deemed you irreversibly contaminated for contact with non-classified life forms. You have aided and abetted in the destruction of a Peacekeeper Gammak base and a Peacekeeper command carrier along with offenses against civilian populations." Grayza leaned forward. "Am I boring you, Officer Sun?"

"You are not telling me anything I have not already heard." She kept her eyes straight ahead.

"I know why you have come here. Co-kurra was a very compliant witness before he died but he failed to mention" Grayza paused. "Where is Crichton?"

"I have not seen Crichton for over six monans," Aeryn said. _Crichtonkeep down and take the passageway. Don't be so frelling stubborn this time_"He is nothing to me."

"Well, you are certainly something to him. Would Crichton risk his life for you?" She resumed her pacing. "Say, if I were to make it known that I have youand something else." She stopped again and stared at Aeryn, lavender eyes intent on Aeryn's own. "Tell me. What do you suppose your value to the Peacekeepers is now? You are no longer fit for duty. You have committed crimes worthy of execution yet you blindly and stupidly find your way back to my command carrier. What could be of such importance?" 

Grayza raised her hand towards two of the squadron members and Braca stepped out from behind them, carrying a small bundle. Aeryn's eyes darted towards him and then forward again, the urge to seek out what he held almost overpowering. No, not in front of this Commandant. She would not provoke Grayza further. 

"Officer Sun, I believe this is what you came to see." She nodded at Braca. He held out the child, each hand barely supporting a portion of the baby's small body. The infant looked as though she might topple from his outstretched palms. The blanket fell partially away, enough for Aeryn to see the child's small, perfectly shaped head covered with thick black hair. A'lya's eyes fluttered open as the baby stretched and yawned and then Braca quickly wrapped her up again. 

Aeryn felt emotion in her throat, but she fought it off. Emotions would not appeal to Grayza or any other Peacekeeper. They had never served a purpose on a Carrier; she could now see why. How could a soldier continue on, knowing that her child was somewhere out of her grasp? It was better to just not know, to just not feel. But she was well past the point of no return.

"What the frell do you want, Grayza?" she finally spat out. 

"This." Grayza turned; Aeryn's gaze followed Grayza's outstretched finger as two Peacekeeper guards dragged John towards Grayza and dumped him in front of her. They'd pulled his helmet off. Aeryn saw the blood on his chin where her fist had connected with it. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. There was nowhere to run—she'd left him too vulnerable lying there. She should have turned and run with him, dragged him to the passageway herself, remained hidden as she had told him to do—

John groaned and rolled over, then pushed up to a sitting position, his eyes blinking against the light. He looked at Aeryn—she looked away. He wiped his hand under his chin and stared at his fingertips, his mind trying to connect it all together. 

"Aeryn?" He looked at her bloodied lip to his fingers then back at her. "Hell of a right hook, baby."

"John Crichton." Grayza turned her attention back to John and crouched down beside him. "We could have done this the easy way. Painless. Perhaps even pleasurable." She turned back to Aeryn. "Six monans, Officer Sun? I doubt it's been six microts." She looked at John and ran her fingers between her breasts then shook her head in disgust. "It's not even worth the effort, Crichton."

John laughed and Aeryn sucked in her breath. Why was he going to make it worse? "I hear the juices aren't quite what they used to be, Grayza. Guess you're kind of a one trick pony." 

She slapped him. "You are in no position to comment." She stood up and returned to Aeryn. "He means nothing to you, Officer Sun. That was what you said, wasn't it? That would mean that this half-breed child is probably of even less importance to you than a human."

Aeryn fought against the guards but they tightened their grip. She tried to twist away, tried to move her head so that she could ram her way out of it but they were stronger than she was. Her eyes flashed back on John as he stood shakily. 

"Screw you, Grayza," John muttered. "Screw you. Just give us what we came for and we'll be out of your hair." 

"Oh, Crichton, that time has passed." She crossed her arms over her chest and stood in front of him, barely a hand's breadth between them. "What do you propose giving me in return? Wormhole technology? You have proven you cannot be trusted. Or perhaps you propose offering yourself." She trailed her fingers over his face. 

"Grayza," John began. He looked away from Aeryn and turned back to Grayza. "I'll cooperate." He leaned in towards Grayza, eyes closed, and kissed her. Revulsion covered his face; she resisted the urge to look away. It would not come to this.

"Let Aeryn and the baby go," he said calmly. "Come on, Grayza. They're baggage. You keep them safe, you keep them free and I'm yours. Whatever it takes." His eyes met Aeryn's and there was peace in his expression. He would die for heror worse.

"You're out of time, Crichton." Grayza pushed him away and motioned to Braca. He stepped forward. She nodded to the guards holding Aeryn and they wrenched her backwards, nearly knocking her off feet. 

"The survival instinct is strong, isn't it, Crichton?" Grayza said. "It's gotten you this far. The child is called A'lya Lyczac," she continued. She approached John again and motioned to Braca to follow her. The guards pulled John forward towards Braca. Aeryn could see John's face, his expression threatening as he stared at Braca and then his face softened as he looked down at the baby.

"My God," John said as he shook his head in disbelief.. His eyes closed momentarily, his face flush with emotion and then he opened them again and looked at Aeryn. "II can see youand me" His voice trailed off. 

"Officer Sun." Grayza turned to her, her body blocking any hope Aeryn had of seeing A'lya again. "This is the life you chose as a traitor. A mate. A child. You were born a Peacekeeper yet you think that you should be exempt from our rules and our ways. Now you must choose again. Show me how John Crichton means nothing to you." There was another nod to the Peacekeeper guards holding John and they dragged him forward and threw him to the floor. 

"No," Aeryn said. She felt desperation clawing its way out. "No. Commandant Grayza. II admit to my crimes. John did what he did because of me. He should not be punished. Nor the child." Her voice was pleading but she didn't care. All pretense was gone. 

"Aeryn!" John said. "Don't." He turned to Grayza. "Listen, one Peacekeeper traitor isn't going to make a helluva of a lot of difference to you people. I've got a science you need. Just let them go." He looked at Aeryn. "Just take the baby and go," he said. 

"I will not leave you, John. She'll kill you. I won't leave you." Her chest felt heavy like a hand was pushing into it, squeezing her heart. She would not make that choice. Grayza would have to kill her.

"Some fates are worse than death, Officer Sun," Grayza said. 

Aeryn heard a strangled, garbled sound, a word trying to find its way out of a constricted throat. Her voice.

"No, no, no." The words forced their way out of her mouth as she struggled against the hands that still held her down. She found her bearings and stomped down hard on the guard holding her on the right but he merely increased his grip. 

"Grayza. I'm the one you want," John said. "Just let them go. You've got me. That was all you wanted."

Aeryn heard a whack and then John fell to the ground, unconscious. Grayza looked at her and waited.

Aeryn saw a life flash before her—her own—what was and what could be. Emotions and memories tumbled towards her. John Crichton had saved her life so many times, had loved her, had held her in her moments of grief, had been patient with her when she had refused him. And she had stood by him even when the pain of standing next to him was so great that it almost left her breathless. 

"No," she said. She felt the guard on her right relax and she concentrated her strength enough to twist away. She fell behind him and reached for the strap of his rifle, enough to topple him to the ground on top of her like a shield. She pulled the strap against his throat and fired at the other guard who shot at her through his fallen partner. The shot couldn't penetrate through his entire body but now the guard was dead weight on her. She had only winged the other guard and she couldn't see much past the man on top of her. John—where was he? 

"John, get up!" she said. She tried to slide out from underneath the body but then two pairs of hands grabbed her roughly to her feet. She spun around and a rifle butt connected with her stomach, doubling her over and then a boot as she fell to the ground and another boot. She couldn't see John. She tried to scramble to her feet, looking for him, for both of them but she saw nothing as a boot connected with her head. 

_____________________________________

_The child stares up at her with blue eyes, bright like its father's. Aeryn can see the outline of her own features in their daughter's face, in the thick black hair that covers the tiny head. But the eyesthe eyes are John Crichton's. Her little body is soft, lightweight, as Aeryn cradles her. She has never had this sensation, the overwhelming joy of caring for something so beautiful and fragile. She has yet to name the child, truly. The Peacekeeper name, A'lya, will have to do for now. A'lya Crichton Sun._

_She feels John over her shoulder, feels his smile without seeing it. His voice murmurs softly near her ear._

_"Hey, baby," he says. _

_Words she's heard before, in a different context and a different tone, so much more tender now. The words are full of wonder, a wonder that he has found again after three cycles away from his home world. From Earth. It's called Earth, she reminds herself. In her mind, she sees John, the two of them together in the act of creating the being that she holds now and she cannot differentiate between that man and the one who stands behind her, his arm around her waist. It fits as though it's always been part of her. _

_"It's a miracle, Aeryn," his voice whispers as he bends to kiss her. She turns her head just enough so that their lips meet, briefly, and then his attention is back on the child as he gently traces A'lya's face with one finger. "It's just like I said before. We'll find a place and settle now. Not Earth. Not some outpost. A place that we can call our own."_

_The favored planet, she thinks, for no apparent reason, a place she thinks she's seen once. She can't remember when. They will raise their children, grow old there. She nods. "Yes, you were right, John. I'm glad you were right," she says as she pulls A'lya closer. _

___________________________________

Aeryn awoke with a start, her knees bent up against her chest, holding herself tightly in. Her eyes were dry and she was barely able to blink them open. The hard metal of the transport pressed against her back. She molded herself into the wall in an effort to mask the throbbing pain where a Peacekeeper boot had connected with her body. They'd thrown her down and beaten her, dropping her at the entrance of a transport, barely able to crawl inside before the door shut behind her and shot her out of the carrier into space. 

Every fiber of her body ached, inside, and she felt sick, like vomiting, as if in doing so she'd expel every experience that had led her to this place, beaten and thrown away. The transport lights came on and she squinted against them, feeling one eye swell shut as she surveyed the area. 

She fell over on her side, knees still pressed against her chest, her breath coming in and out raggedly but she didn't make a sound. She wouldn't dare. John and the child—A'lya—were not with her. She couldn't recall what choice she'd made. Had she made one? She only remembered weakness. Had she begged, had she fallen? She had fought, she knew that, but not hard enough and somewhere in the clamor, John and the child had disappeared from her sight. 

She lay there, until she heard a voice, deep and familiar, booming over her comm. The comm, tucked away inside her vestshe'd forgotten about it. 

"_Aeryn? Crichton?"_ D'Argo's voice was panicked.

"D'Argo." Her voice was scratchy, barely more than a whisper. 

_"Aeryn. We've been searching for you. We are almost out of supplies. Why haven't you answered? Where have you been?" _

"I lost him, D'Argo," she said. "I lost them." She had failed them, had led John to his death and had gained nothing. Her life wasn't worth the exchange that had been made. Her sobs filled the empty transport, echoing back at her as she broke down.

_"Aeryn."_ His voice was filled with compassion. _"Aeryn, just leave your comm on. I'll get a fix on it and we'll retrieve you. We're coming. Just hold tight, Aeryn. Aeryn?"_

She rolled over on her back, the old bruises still feeling fresh on her body. Her bloodied fingers worked at the comm until she pried it loose from her vest and she set it on the floor. She could still hear D'Argo's voice in the distance as she closed her eyes and waited.

END


End file.
